How does the blockchain affect the basic necessities of ordinary people?
The blockchain is completely on fire! Now I have to admit the fact that the wave of people learning blockchain has arrived. Blockchain science popularization is being done everywhere on the website, on TV, including WeChat Moments. So, what is the "blockchain" that is so sought after? What does it do? Today we will sort it out for you.
Before introducing the role of blockchain, let's briefly introduce what blockchain is.
Blockchain is essentially a computer's underlying protocol, but this protocol is fundamentally different from the Internet protocol we are using now:
The special feature of the blockchain is that the way the blockchain processes data is based on the idea of "decentralization", that is, the recording and maintenance of data no longer depends on the "centralized" central processing unit. Instead, it depends on each node in the system. These nodes maintain data according to certain rules (consensus mechanism). When most nodes think the data is valid, the data can be recorded.
In fact, the blockchain itself is not a brand new thing, but a new technology formed by the integration of some classic disciplines, such as P2P, cryptography and other technical principles. In 2008, the concept of Bitcoin was proposed, and the P2P, cryptography and other disciplines integrated into the Bitcoin system are generally referred to as "blockchain technology".
Blockchain technology, as the name suggests, is to link blocks that record data in chronological order through special calculations to form an interlocking chain. This chain is called "block chain". At the beginning, there were no application scenarios for the blockchain, and the only application scenario was Bitcoin.
Later, people gradually discovered that the application value of blockchain is far more than Bitcoin:
Relying on the "block chain" data structure of the blockchain itself, the data on the blockchain can be traced; and relying on the special way (consensus mechanism) of the blockchain to record and maintain data, which can avoid data encounters on the blockchain Malicious tampering. In this way, the blockchain can be applied to many industries and solve the pain points of these industries. This is the reason why the blockchain is gradually recognized.
So, which industry pain points can the blockchain solve? How can it affect the lives of ordinary people?
1. Commodity traceability, fake goods have nowhere to hide
Nowadays, online shopping has become the main shopping method for ordinary people, but one of the biggest confusions in online shopping is buying fake products, especially for some imported products, such as skin care products and food. Consumers pose health and safety risks. Through the blockchain, the traceability of goods can be realized, and consumers can avoid buying fake products. This is a very common application scenario of the blockchain.
In my country, the e-commerce giant JD.com, as well as Ali’s Ant Financial Services Group, have a certain implementation in the traceability of blockchain products:
JD.com also has a certain amount of accumulation in the exploration of blockchain traceability and anti-counterfeiting. As of the end of September 2019, the Jingdong blockchain anti-counterfeit traceability platform has carried out traceability cooperation with more than 700 brands, with a total of more than 1.3 billion on-chain data, providing consumers with full traceability of product circulation data, and realizing product anti-counterfeiting and quality traceability And the recall and responsibility definition when major safety problems occur.
Ant Financial Lab under Alibaba applies blockchain technology to food safety and product traceability. Imported milk powder has a blockchain "ID card". When consumers purchase imported milk powder, they can scan the QR code to obtain the origin, date, logistics, inspection and other information of the milk powder. In addition, Ant Financial Lab also applied the blockchain to the identification of Moutai.
Commodity traceability through the blockchain can avoid the rampant situation of online shopping fake goods. In addition, through the blockchain commodity traceability, we can safely purchase overseas commodities through the e-commerce platform, and do not need to "go all over the world" to find purchasing agents. Save time to buy goods. At present, all major e-commerce companies have their own international logistics. If you can buy reliable products through the e-commerce platform, then you don’t need to buy direct mail back to your country. The impact this has on the lives of us ordinary people is obvious.
2. E-government, improve work efficiency, and save people from running errands
E-government refers to the integrated and comprehensive government information system established by the government administrative department to use information technology and modern communication technology to change the traditional work mode and to face the various businesses of the government in social services. However, at present, e-government also faces some pain points, such as: information resources are not shared, databases between departments are independent of each other, and information integration is difficult; there are hidden dangers in network security; many affairs require financial, regulatory and other institutions to intervene, which is time-consuming. Long and inefficient.
Based on blockchain technology, it can solve the pain points faced by traditional e-government affairs, and add government, financial, regulatory and other institutions to the blockchain ecosystem to realize data sharing. Based on the traceability of the blockchain, it can ensure that data security is not tampered with; at the same time, since in the blockchain system, it is each node that maintains data security, this way, government affairs will be more open and transparent, and easy to supervise.
Data source: Chain Tower Think Tank
Data source: Chain Tower Think Tank
Blockchain electronic bills have become the application scenario with the most application cases of blockchain technology. On August 10 last year, the "world's first blockchain electronic invoice" landed in Shenzhen, with Tencent Financial Technology as the underlying technology provider. Over the past year, Shenzhen has issued 8 million blockchain electronic invoices, and more than 5,300 enterprises or institutions have opened blockchain invoices. These enterprises or institutions cover a wide range of areas, including banks, subways, taxis, Finance and insurance, retail, real estate, tourism, hotel and catering and other fields. People only need to carry their mobile phones and according to the payment records on the mobile phones, they can issue blockchain invoices at any time.
In June this year, the Chongqing blockchain government service platform was launched. With the help of the blockchain platform, the time to register a company in Chongqing can be shortened from the past 10 days to 3 days. The applicant does not need to repeatedly fill in and submit information as in the past, and only needs to log in to the "Chongqing Online Service Hall" Website, submit the materials once, and you can complete all the steps of applying for business license, seal engraving, etc., and you can get the business license within 3 working days at the fastest.
The implementation of blockchain in e-government can greatly improve service efficiency and the satisfaction of the masses. In the future, blockchain technology will be applied to more areas of people's livelihood. The use of blockchain technology to build smart cities will also become the main field of blockchain application.
3. Supply Chain Finance
Supply Chain Finance (Supply Chain Finance) is a professional field of commercial bank credit business (bank level), and it is also a financing channel for enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (enterprise level). To put it simply, supply chain finance is a financing model in which banks connect core enterprises with upstream and downstream enterprises and provide flexible financial products and services. However, there are certain pain points in supply chain finance. For example, information cannot be effectively transmitted, and financing is difficult and expensive.
We say that the core of finance is "credit", whether it is a loan or financing, it is inseparable from "credit". The "decentralization" idea provided by the blockchain is the most suitable technology to solve the trust problem. The distributed storage mode of the blockchain can promote the sharing of credit information among commercial banks and core enterprises in the supply chain, and provide efficient and convenient information transmission channels for enterprises and banks.
Hu Yuefei, president of Ping An Bank, once stated at the World Internet Conference that Ping An Bank has adopted blockchain technology to build a supply chain accounts receivable financing platform to realize the early realization of accounts receivable of small and medium-sized suppliers. Based on blockchain technology, the platform can realize closed-loop operation, greatly reducing financing risks, and the domestic accounts receivable market with a scale of more than ten trillion yuan is expected to be activated.
In addition to Ping An Bank, China Construction Bank, Industrial Bank, WeBank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Agricultural Bank of China have also launched supply chain financial platforms based on blockchain technology to realize the full life cycle management of supply chain financial information flow and capital flow. Use blockchain technology to ensure the privacy of bank bill transactions.
Online shopping, invoicing, bank loans, application for business licenses, start-up financing, etc., are all things that ordinary people can experience every day. From here we can find that the blockchain is penetrating into our daily life. However, blockchain technology is still in its infancy. In the future, blockchain technology will have a broader prospect in the field of people's livelihood, and can have more impact on our ordinary basic necessities of life. If we say that the current Internet era has made our basic necessities of life more convenient, then the arrival of the blockchain era will make our lives more efficient, convenient and cost-effective. Of course, the blockchain is not a panacea. We must be wary of illegal fundraising under the guise of discounting the blockchain. When we see the words "blockchain investment", we must remain vigilant.
