The financial revolution that is sneaking up on us

This article is by cryptocurrency firm Evai 2020

The first, second and third industrial revolutions brought us to the present day.

According to Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, the new age is differentiated by the speed of technological breakthroughs, the pervasiveness of scope and the tremendous impact of new systems.

The fourth industrial revolution is the current and developing environment in which disruptive technologies and trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way we live and work.

Like it or not, we live in a world of change, constantly evolving through carefully crafted technology and inventiveness but also, by unforeseen chance and unintended consequence.

As humans we like to be in control. Many of us have just made our New Year resolutions. Perhaps promising ourselves a better work life balance, a better diet, or more exercise, but the 2020s may well bring greater challenges and changes than we have experienced for many a decade, changes precipitating outcomes outside of our control!

In recent times we have witnessed world events reinforcing the belief that we all now face a real climate emergency. On our own doorstep, depending on your perspective, we are grappling with the challenge or opportunity of Brexit and the Boris effect. Whatever next? Driverless cars, or will we simply be strapping on our personal James Bond style jetpack (electric of course) to fly to the office?

For many of the changes to come, we will simply be spectators shouting from the side-lines but with no real influence. Other changes, however, will directly affect the way we live and work and conduct our businesses.

Doubtless, some changes will be a little less obvious, with implications and consequences a little less certain, that will nonetheless affect our lives in dramatic ways that we can only begin to imagine.

The last financial crash is now more than ten years distant and yet did we learn the right lessons?

Have we even worked through the consequences, or unintended consequences of quantitative easing? Time will tell, but there are a few clues for those that have their senses attuned!

Did you notice Bitcoin popping into existence about 10 years ago?

Did you hear that some guy paid 10,000 of those Bitcoins to buy a couple of Papa John pizzas? Like most of us, you may hardly have noticed that those same 10,000 Bitcoins today are worth over $70m!

Over the next eight weeks we would like to share with you the financial revolution that’s sneaking up on us – the world of Cryptocurrency and, how in short time this alternative to traditional world currencies will likely change the way we transact business forever.

Not sure about all this – just see what American Express have to say: “Blockchain technology is already used in several areas within financial services, including international payments. Now, some U.S. banks are creating their own blockchain-based systems, including digital currencies, to enable B2B cryptocurrency payments between their customers.

“Proponents say the potential benefits include reduced transaction fees and faster money transfers. Japanese banks are also creating payment systems based on digital currencies.”

In part two of our serialisation we’ll look at the rise of Cryptocurrency and consider the impact on how we pay for goods, pay our taxes or conduct our business. We hope to illuminate the path ahead that we may step and not stumble into the future.

If you would like to find out more, visit evai2020.com