BlockChain Implementation into Industry

Block Chain and BitCoin have become hot topics as BitCoin hit $19,000 in December 2017. There are multiple articles on the background of BitCoin and its exponential explosion into mainstream trading, what I would like to explore is the application of the technology into industry. 

In October 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto wrote a white paper presenting a new idea on how markets could interact and exchange payments through an entirely electronic platform. His proposal was a complete electronic transaction history that would validate the history of the currency and eliminate any double spend issues with a cryptocurrency. 

The transaction log would be validated by all participants in the marketplace and it would operate as an unbroken general ledger throughout the life of the currency. Each person with computing power involved in the marketplace could compute the transaction and validate the transaction to the market, if more than 51% of the market agreed upon the transaction, then it is confirmed and added to the transaction ledger. This is a simplification of a very intricately developed system. 

BitCoin is a cryptocurrency operating on the Block Chain platform, along with many other cryptocurrencies like Ripple or LiteCoin. People associate BitCoin with Block Chain, but they are not the same. BitCoin depends on operating on the Block Chain platform, but any other set of currency or processes can operate on the platform as well.

Block Chain can be implemented in multiple industries, but application and execution has proven challenging to the first explorers who are braving this new frontier. healthcare, real estate and banking are all heavily invested in finding solutions on the new platform. 

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 all healthcare providers were required to implement an electronic medical records (EMR) system to maintain reimbursement levels from Medicare and Medicaid. One of the underpinnings of this legislation is that it would create an national health record for every patient and the last electrocardiogram with your PCP would be shared with the Hospitalist when you had a late night cardiac event. Nine years later and it is difficult to get your Physician to send an electronic prescription to the pharmacy by your house.  

How can a software platform bypass the lags in acceptance and interfacing that EMR and other software's have experienced? How can we create modes of opportunity for an innovative method of transactions? 

The future is bright with so many implementation opportunities, tracking an electronic dollar could eliminate the anti-money laundering due diligence the banking system strives to understand. A home buyer could instantly view the history of the title of a home without a costly process or required title insurance coverage. Could this shift the face of internal and external audit? And how would regulatory groups set up systems to view and monitor real time transactional history? Could this be the end of Audit as we know it today?

Unfortunately, I still have more questions than answers, but will continue to pursue the understanding required to find a purpose for this disruptive innovation.