Everyone is talking about blockchain. Big banks such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan call it “a technology that can change everything, a game changer”. Blockchain can solve the question on how we organize humans, networks, and decision-making processes. But do you actually know what blockchain is?
Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology (DLT), is a decentralized database or ledger that contains a continuously growing list of data records of transactions that once established cannot be changed. This new technology is behind crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, Ether and Tezos. But its applications are far wider. It potentially could change whole industries from film making to health care.
Major global consulting companies such as Deloitte think that it is not a question of whether Blockchain will establish itself, but more a question of when and in what areas.
Blockchain and Switzerland
Blockchain applications will develop tremendously over the next few years. Different participants are experimenting with new applications. The race is on and Switzerland is right at the forefront.
Different factors make Switzerland an excellent place to develop technologies such as blockchain that make decentralization possible. Switzerland has already a decentralized political system, and a strong culture of individual rights. In addition, it is one of the best places in the world to innovate and to operate a company with global reach. It is stable and business-friendly.
All those factors inspired Johann Gevers to initiate a Swiss Crypto Valley in Zug, Switzerland in 2013. The idea was it to create a global hub for crypto technologies that are based on the blockchain technology. Some of the biggest players in the world such as Bitcoin and Ethereum chose the Swiss Crypto Valley for their head offices and servers.
On October 17, 2017 two of the key players of the Swiss Crypto Valley will be in Vancouver and speak at the Blockchain event of the Swiss Canadian Chamber of Commerce. In the next newsletter we will introduce them.