• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Apr 23, 2021
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

Tax Bandits banner
Home / Technology / Security / Blockchain and Its Potentially Regulated Future
Blockchain and Its Potentially Regulated Future

Blockchain and Its Potentially Regulated Future

2161 Views

May 12, 2017 By Marcus Turner Jones

Blockchain is a relatively new phenomenon in the financial world, but has the potential to be very important to U.S. business owners, who should be aware of the system behind the new world of online payments.

Blockchain is a term which refers to a shared or distributed digital database (ledger) containing a number of records (blocks) which are constantly growing in number. Invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, this innovative technology keeps records of digital data, such as digital transactions, visible to anyone within a given blockchain network. As a relatively new and radical construction, this technology is becoming both a complex and controversial topic. This article will look at why this is.

Blockchain and Bitcoin

Blockchain is most famed as the technology behind the online phenomenon Bitcoin, which serves as an online currency that cuts out intermediaries and is considered revolutionary. In fact, Bitcoin’s growth since it was invented in 2008 has been extraordinary, and this fact alone shows why blockchain is becoming a much discussed topic of late.

The online currency has so far existed without the same level of financial regulations which are placed on other currencies, partly because it is such a new concept which has been cloaked in mystery. Therefore, blockchain, the lifeblood of Bitcoin, is attracting ever more attention.

A Rule Breaker?

Existing as a decentralized database, blockchain has no regulators or rules to follow, since it does not ‘belong’ to a single person. Compared to other financial services, which follow strict guidelines, there is quite a contrast. Blockchains, on the other hand, can belong to a number of people in any given network who all have access to the same ‘blocks’ of information, and who all have a say in their upkeep and maintenance.

This raises the question, therefore, of how legitimate and transparent blockchain interactions truly are. With a lack of regulation, and with the existence of private blockchains (not available to the public), blockchain networks could well be about to face the same scrutiny that other financial markets face, since they deal with the now very valuable Bitcoin, a type of currency.

Implications

You may be left wondering how this might affect US businesses. It might not be obvious at first but to give you an idea, the biggest health insurer in the US recently hired a Blockchain Director, so it clearly is going to have an impact on business in one way or another. Additionally, it is thought that we as a nation should be investing more in Blockchain. The fact that the UK Treasury issued a call for information on digital currencies and their regulation in 2014 shows how little has been known about this field until recent years. With authorities not having (and previously having no interest in) access to blockchain networks, the future legality and potential consequences of regulation are unknown.

As blockchain evolves and outgrows its original use, it is becoming ever more likely that centralised powers will want to investigate the benefits and drawbacks that it presents to global societies and markets. Indeed, the UK wants to be a hub for financial innovation, and announced in 2015 that it would be spending £10m on blockchain research.

The Future of Blockchain

That level of expenditure shows the government means business, and is taking blockchain seriously as both a potential benefit and something which must be meticulously (and cautiously) explored. As it is increasingly put under the microscope, it is hard to tell what established centralized systems, to whom blockchain is very new (and unestablished), will make of this maverick and immutable means of sharing data.

Any regulations are likely to cause upset for the users of a system which by nature works as a unique entity, free from restrictions. It is, however, difficult to see how, in a world which regulates and controls nearly all aspects of data sharing and financial transaction, something as significant as blockchain will escape at least some manner of control.

In a continually changing world, blockchain stands out as one of the major innovations of the 21st Century. Breaking away from tradition, this niche concept has mostly been under the radar since its invention, but this could be set to change as it becomes an object of curiosity and potential suspicion. As it continues to grow in stature, regulation is bound to follow.

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: Bitcoin, Regulation, Technology

Avatar

Marcus Turner Jones

Marcus Turner Jones graduated in Economics from the University of Sheffield before pursuing a career as a Market Analyst in London. He has his own website, Turner Jones Finance, and writes freelance from Buenos Aires with his dog, Luna. Follow him @MarcusTurnerJ or email marcusturnerjones@gmail.com.

Related Posts

  • 14 Practical Ways to Make Money with Bitcoin
  • How to Keep Your Small Business Afloat in 2021
  • 5 Ways That Businesses are Changing in 2020

Primary Sidebar

efile4biz banner

Random

How to Mitigate Today’s Biggest Risks to Business

Apr 23, 2021 By Jeremy Bowler

How to Protect Your Property Against Eminent Domain

Apr 23, 2021 By Brian Wallace

What Is A Consumer Good Auction & How Can You Get Involved?

Apr 23, 2021 By Sunny West

5 Things Entrepreneurs Under 20 Must Know (& Some Older)

Apr 23, 2021 By Rumzz Bajwa

How to Drive Sales for an eCommerce Business

Apr 23, 2021 By Daniel Tannenbaum

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy