Blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin has the potential to shake up our world. It's coming after our jobs!
The original blockchain, Bitcoin, was started largely by Satoshi Nakamoto in response to the 2008 financial crisis. It acts as a ledger of transactions that cannot be altered. This ledger technology allows us to send and receive data in a decentralized way that allows the sender and receiver to trust each other. Trust is the key word. For if two parties can trust each other, why would we ever need an intermediary? Such as a bank.
Therefore as this technology evolves and is adopted in the near future we will see the elimination of unnecessary jobs that are heavily centralized or act as an intermediary.
But what jobs and industries can we expect to disappear or at least decline with the surging cryptocurrency market? Let's see.
Banks
Yeah this was a no-brainer. Currently, if you want to send $500 from an account in one country to another you will need two banks. These intermediaries need to record that transaction in their systems with teams of accountants that are getting paid. If these people are getting paid, then who is paying? You that's who. Fees could be a percentage of the transferred money or perhaps a set fee of near $40. This is just one example. Blockchain currencies such as Bitcoin, or Ripple will eliminate these jobs and then some by allowing us to send and receive cash quickly and without fees. Initially this will actually help banks reduce costs by cutting some jobs.
Fast forward a few decades though and it is likely we will see nations adopting a cryptocurrency as a national currency. If that's the case, then the banks themselves will dissolve or become a much smaller part of our lives. There will be no need for a central bank to print fiat or transfer money because we will be able to do everything ourselves. This will probably occur first in struggling economies such as Venezuela as citizens already barely trust their own currency.
Real Estate Escrow and Title Companies
As it stands now, buying a house will probably require some sort of third party verification in the form of escrow, title company or lawyer. These are middlemen that may take up to 1 to 2 percent of a houses worth. Why? Because fraud is real. Once blockchain reaches this sector with blockchains such as Ubiquity there will be trustworthy ledgers to speed up the process of buying or selling a house. Credit can be instantly verifiable and real estate will have digital IDs that include who owns the estate and what repairs or changes have been made. We will not need these real estate companies. If you work in this field, run for the hills! Or start learning code.
Lawyers
Speaking of lawyers, if your studying to be one I would highly recommend rethinking that choice.
Most lawyers are not standing up in a court room giving amazing speeches. They are sitting in firms writing and verifying contracts between parties so we can all do business together. Once blockchain is fully adopted in this sector the need for lawyers will be drastically reduced but not eliminated. Smart contracts written on protocols like Ethereum will establish trust between two parties and be written into a ledger that cannot be altered for all to see. Machines, yes machines, will read mountains of data and precedents to write a contract automatically and also settle minor disputes. Of course large contracts like who gets to drill a hole into the ground to grab oil will need actual lawyers. Do you think that will be you? If not, better start learning survival skills cause you'll be living in a van down by the river trying to write an employee contract.
Intellectual Property
Companies such as facebook, youtube, spotify, and Apple (iTunes), all take users intellectual property and provide a platform for it while taking the lions share of the profit and censoring what they can do. Blockchains like STEEM, LBRY, and Mycelia among many others will give back the lions share to the people who made the IP. They decentralize the way it is distributed and attach the users name to a piece of IP forever in a blockchain ledger making it much harder to steal and profit from. Stolen IP will be instantly discovered and disallowed on these decentralized platforms. Good luck trying to re-upload someone elses video in 10 years!
Back Office Finance and Accounting
This could be a big one. Large companies rely on individuals to moderate things like accounts payable, tax compliance, internal audits and invoicing. With immutable blockchain ledgers and smart contracts financial and accounting practices like double-entry bookkeeping will be built right into a blockchain, eliminating a majority of the need to oversee it. Many systems will be automatic. Transactions can be made to flow or not flow through a system with well written smart contracts. This will eliminate jobs within every corporation, the health care system and even pharmaceuticals in the back office.
If your studying finance or accounting I'd add coding to the repertoire! Or else you'll be fighting an AI for your job!
Well there is sure to be more industries eaten by blockchain but I am getting hungry too and can't keep writing. All input is welcome. I would also like to hear your thoughts on other industries that will change due to blockchain. Thanks for reading.
-Kei
Donate:
Ether: 0xe3Ab191c6DC0F25486DfB0D9a37f96a61308C336
Bitcoin: 13YX9osURff5qv6QQ8T8VDpNG6m74YcM2f
Reference:
https://hackernoon.com/how-lawyers-will-be-killed-by-the-block-chain-and-not-machine-learning-bfbf77376c54
https://www.seeker.com/how-blockchain-will-eliminate-banks-and-democratize-money-2214709749.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/05/26/how-the-blockchain-will-transform-everything-from-banking-to-government-to-our-identities/#463b16bb558e
https://www.paystreamadvisors.com/blockchain-transform-back-office-finance/