This single technology could revolutionize banking and the internet

The internet is just a pipe, and any attempt at real security is merely a sticking plaster that’s doomed to get hacked, somehow, by someone, at some point. Cue the Blockchain, a tech that proves ownership in an indisputable way. Said to be as powerful a catalyst for creativity as Internet Protocol, Blockchain-led innovations are likely to begin in the world of financial services, but could extend far beyond – its full potential is now only just starting to be understood. “[It could] bring a whole new dimension of trust to the internet,” says Richard Moulds, VP Strategy, Thales e-Security, “such that it can become a transactional platform between people and things, and not just the pipe that connects them.” No wonder, then, that Blockchain accounts for the largest spend on emerging technologies this year – almost $1 billion. And you thought it was just a Bitcoin enabler. “Blockchain is designed to make transactions fraud-proof,” says Ajay Vij, Vice President and Head of Financial Services for Europe at global IT consultancy Infosys. “It takes the form of a distributed database against which anyone can verify the validity of transactions held within it.”