Venezuela, the South American country that is going through a very critical economic situation, surprisingly, is taking first places between the top countries with the higher crypto exchange rates. The people are no longer saving Bolívares (Venezuela’s weak currency) instead, they are putting their faith in cryptocurrencies, one of the several utilities of blockchain technology, because when humans fail to fulfill their promises or a corrupted system fails to answer to people's needs, and when the market is asking for restoration, and human interactions for commerce and daily living are at risk, people need to rely on a method that can involve money, enhance and authenticity, all in one, a method in which they can trust.

A problem that affects us all

          When we go further in what we consider to be the biggest issues in the worldwide spectrum: Corruption, Manipulation, slowness, high fees, sectorization, excessive bureaucracy, inflation, control of exchange, lost, malversation, all of these are just a few words that we could use to describe the illness that promotes a whole gama of social and economic problems that affects us today. Then you may wonder, how is blockchain technology gonna change that? Isn’t blockchain just a method to save or backup data? How can data decentralization or a peer to peer network change the way we interact with each other? To answer these questions we first need to understand that the use of technology is nowadays more than just an option to improve our businesses, technology is a need. When you buy a laptop to manage your accounting, contacts information, registrations of products, buy and sell transactions, or to save any confidential on undisclosed information you are depending on data to lead a huge percentage of your business endeavors and in order to share that information and establish significant partnerships with others you need trust, a way to ensure that the info you are sharing and receiving is faithful, that the deals you’ve made aren’t going to be betrayed, and that the money in play isn’t going to be stolen or delayed.

Data on a centralized server is inherently vulnerable to hacking, loss, corruption or human error, many have been the cases of misplacement and data manipulation that can put a business at risk, and even lives. We rely on information everyday even when we go to the hospital and ask for our medical record wishing it is what it should be, or buy our food and eat it thinking that is due to expire when it says it will or that the expensive product we brought comes from where it says it comes, that our intellectual property is saved properly. Lack of trust, inequality, and disadvantage this is the world in which we live, and a world in which humans can’t have healthy interactions, and business deals pending on a thin string.

The solution we need

          Blockchain appear as the perfect method to bring solution to these problems, encouraging egalitarianism and mutual support, increasing trust, because Blockchain creates more personal communications and transactions of all kinds through a decentralized proof of work network fulfilling the role of establishing trust and identity, because no one can edit a blockchain without having the corresponding keys, and every person is equally responsible for everything happening in the network. This means that the major functions carried out, for example, by banks like verifying identities to prevent fraud and then recording legitimate transactions, can be carried out by a blockchain more quickly and accurately, ensuring that the money reaches those that are meant to have it. Blockchain allows you to be in complete certainty of where your money is going, because cryptocurrencies, in contrast to fiat currencies, can’t be revoked, also, cryptocurrencies give you the chance of expanding your business to the world without borders, smart contracts are transforming our view of property, exclusivity and data disclosure because it allows both parties involved to have a deal that will be done without delay after meeting the settle requirements, being thus irreversible, secure and highly reliable.

"... Mutual support is something that we should encourage ..."

Mutual support= Better life

          Mutual support is one of the basements for a healthy life and having technologies that can help us encourage trust among people is an amazing achievement. Since we live in a world in which we cannot possibly be working alone. The saying from a sermon by the seventeenth-century English author John Donne states “No man is an island, no one is self-sufficient; everyone relies on others.” Mutual support is something that we should encourage. People that work well together can achieve much more than individuals working on their own, being part of a team will help you develop your skills and identify your own strengths and weaknesses. In any sector, work isn’t just about cashing a paycheck at the end of the month. It’s about meeting like minded people, sharing ideas and working toward common goals.

If you are looking forward to establishing business deals you need to make sure that every transaction of any kind is being kept untouched, and secure. If you are eager to help others or even invest in people and innovative projects you are probably worried looking for a way to achieve this without losing your money or being scammed. If you want to raise funds for your projects and be able to be trusted by a worldwide community, disclosing your exclusive material securely, to those who deserve it and participate fairly being able to receive funds from all over the world without third party intermission. Blockchain’s secure and transparent distributed ledger can track donations and let you be sure your money is going to end up in the right hands and that the intended party has received the funds, It can also allow you to create smart contracts to disclose any intellectual property of yours only after the deal is made, and cryptocurrencies offer you the chance of counting with a method of payment that is allowed in many countries, moving fast and not losing value between transactions. Innovative crowdfunding platforms like mintMe are already based on such technology, aiming to not only allow people around the world to find a place where they can share their ideas and find monetary support but also create bonds with people who share their interests and dreams. mintMe is a place in which they can both be the authors and creators, but also the donors and investors, encouraging mutual help and support and improving human interactions which is one of the more promising solutions brought by blockchain technology.

Mary Schwartz