How the insurance sector will learn to love smart contracts
As we mark the ten-year anniversary of Bitcoin’s launch, there’s no shortage of news and speculation related to the digital currency’s value and potential applications. Articles related to blockchain, the overwhelming concentrate on an infrastructure underpinning digital currency used for speculative investments. The reality is far more complex. Blockchain technology’s potential application could disrupt vertical industries as diverse as entertainment, agriculture, and logistics.
As distributed ledger technology (DLT), Blockchains have the potential to reduce human error, costs, and processing of data throughout entire supply chains. They also enable synchronization and reconciliation of databases between various players, by increasing efficiency and transparency. These qualities are particularly relevant for the insurance industry, where claims are particularly cumbersome and require details to be checked and verified by separate parties.
Although Blockchain doesn’t inherently change the insurance industry’s business model, it does reduce points of friction between stakeholders while enabling transparency and scalability. In particular, the use of smart contracts, (self-executing pieces of code) sitting on an immutable transparent and auditable shared ledger could revolutionize insurance practices. Blockchain’s “Smart Code” self-executes in response to certain triggers (oracles) from one contractual state to the next and self-verifies when certain terms and conditions have been met.
In practical terms this dramatically changes the risk transparency between contracted parties, improving the ability to calculate risk through verifiable sources, that can be checked in real-time. This automated risk assessment enables blockchain to handle more risk using smart contracts than could otherwise be done using archaic paper=based policies. Blockchain’s data-sharing foundation has the added benefit of protecting against fraud among insurers, reinsurers, and regulators through a distributed database infrastructure.
The reality of smart contract automation is a concern for insurance incumbents who depend on traditional investigations that maintain manual controls necessary to reduce settlement costs. This may result in an influx of insurance startups who will disrupt the industry. If they are successful, it may lead to an insurance revolution throughout the 2020s and beyond.
As a blockchain technology incubator, Adel sees enormous opportunities for this ground-breaking technology to radically transform the way traditional industries operate. As we enter 2019, more people are realizing that this technology can be applied beyond financial services speculative trading applications. The growing awareness of how blockchain can be applied to reduce supply chain frictions in ossified business structures is one of our main predictions for 2019. The use of smart contract technology transforms industries that continue to log information manually., Outdated business models can now be consigned to the past by using blockchain’s trust consensus, in a way that wouldn’t have been possible just a decade ago.
? Adel ? Opinions
If you liked this article and would like to read more in the series, then check them out here:
Gabriel is the co-Founder and General Manager at Adel Ecosystem Ltd. He is a seasoned sales and marketing expert with over 25 years in senior positions at Motorola, VeriSign (acquired by Symantec in 2010), and SecureWorks (acquired by Dell in 2011), and Cognitive Security (acquired by Cisco in 2013). He is a blockchain entrepreneur, with strengths in international business strategy. Gabriel has a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Canada and expert knowledge in blockchain incubation, cloud computing, IT security, and video streaming, and Over the Top Content (OTT). Gabriel also runs his own company, Euro Tech Startups s.r.o, creator of MyKoddi, and manages a professional blog.
By: Gabriel Dusil, co-Founder & General Manager, Adel Ecosystem Ltd.
Crypto.Intro
The blockchain is the underlying technology behind all cryptocurrency. In its simplest form, it is a marketplace for digital payments and asset exchange. Rather than a central authority, a database of transactions is managed by a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network. The importance of cryptocurrency blockchains is its ability to maintain trust at a programmable level. By solving highly complex math problems this marketplace maintains its security and trust.
The Internet created the eMarketplace Crypto defines the cMarketplace (aka. crypto Marketplace).
Cryptocurrency has become an Over the Top (OTT) version of money, similar to OTT services for video in the entertainment industry, and the how peer to peer (P2P) networking disrupted telecommunications a decade earlier. Over the Top services disrupt incumbent infrastructures, bypassing them completely and offering an alternative competitive service. From a crypto point of view, the plan was to bypass the monopolies that control fiat money[i] – represented by governments or central banks. In a free society, cryptocurrency allows society to decide the fate of its home-grown currency.
Crypto.Apps
Crypto is not only about virtual currencies. It is an ideology that opens opportunities that streamlines and evolves legacy supply chains. The demand for fast, transparent, international transactions and business services on the blockchain is increasing not only horizontally, but vertically, as the industries set for disruption.
One potential use of blockchain is in smart assets. This is where internet-connected assets can be registered on a globally decentralized blockchain. On this basis, blockchain joins the Internet of Things (IoT) evolution, Benefits span the manufacturing, transactions, and movement of goods to any corner of the globe.
In the meantime, FinTech is considered the low-hanging-fruit for blockchain services. Businesses are exploring blockchain to settle payments and manage contracts – quickly and affordable. Successful implementations are expected to disrupt financial service monopolies as they streamline legacy supply chains.
The global benefits of blockchain are similar to how the internet revolution transformed society. With blockchain adoption, information is open and shared across companies, countries, and continents. Business, social and humanitarian possibilities are endless if blockchain applications successfully adopt best practices in privacy, security, and data management.
Crypto.Opportunity
The possibilities unfolding in the blockchain space are nothing short of revolutionary. The largest redistribution of wealth in human history is happening now, completely dictated by a free market society. The blockchain is the underlying catalyst for this evolution. People in remote locations of the world, who previously didn’t have banking services, can now use cryptocurrency as a means to transact. Remittance is significantly cheaper, needing just a smartphone to transfer funds abroad. In this sense, blockchain has the potential to remove economic, political, and social borders for information sharing and expand to humanitarian initiatives.
The blockchain is the underlying catalyst the largest redistribution of wealth in human history.
New applications will enable transparency, fairness, equality and a truly democratic spirit. For example, another application of blockchain is called “Smart Contracts”, allowing businesses to automate agreements between two parties, removing social, economic and personal biases. Smart Contracts will not only function as an unbiased point of social consciousness but also profit from it.
Projects that will succeed are those which showcase blockchain’s unique features such as immutability, decentralized redundancy, programmable trust, open data, and programmatic security. However, one of the biggest challenges in blockchain is that many developers only have “crypto visibility”. Many cryptocurrency communities lack experience in real-world businesses or managing large companies. To legitimize blockchain-tech, the crypto community must collaborate with real-world, brick-and-mortar expertise.
Crypto.Adoption
A common mistake of new entrepreneurs is to utilize a new technology without notable gains in features or functionality. It’s not enough to wrap an old app into a new coat. Many projects today capitalize on the blockchain buzz in hopes of attracting rich cyber millionaires. They have little to offer in terms of improved features and benefits. Apps that use blockchain for no other reason, other than the name recognition, will fail. The projects that will succeed are those which showcase blockchain’s unique features such as immutability, decentralized redundancy, programmable trust, open source, and programmatic security.
The volatility of cryptocurrency attracts new players with its high risk-to-reward ratio. This hype brings attention, investment, and volatility to the blockchain. Thus the cycle repeats through a roller coaster of profit and loss. When viewed from the standpoint of Roger’s Technology Adoption Curve, blockchain is currently in the Early Adopter stage. Likely this will continue into the next decade. This is supported by Gartner’s Hype Cycle ‘18[ii], which anticipates blockchain to mature in the next five to ten years.
Crypto Adoption Curve
Mentions of “cryptocurrency” and “blockchain” in mainstream media root into the general consciousness. Imagine trying to explain the Arpanet in the 80’s, before the Internet became an integral part of their daily life. With each surge in bitcoin value, new spectators take notice, establishing crypto as a household term. As more big players like Apple, Google and Amazon come on board, the average consumer will help to catapult blockchain into the stratosphere. The future may be closer than we realize, with evolving requests such as:
Consumer: “Can I buy your product with Bitcoin?”
Corporate: “Can I pay your invoice with Ethereum?”
Government: “Can I pay my annual tax return with cryptocurrency?”
Alternatively, blockchain may not become a household name. For example, modern society enjoys access to electricity, gas, and water but have no idea that SCADA is used to operate those services. TCP/IP is well known amongst tech circles, but many don’t know that it is the underlying protocol used to surf the Internet. The blockchain is more analogous to TCP/IP than the “Internet”, in this sense. Blockchain may take on an underlying infrastructure role, but the mainstream may have no idea it’s there, “as long as it works!”
Crypto.Potential
In crypto, there is long-term confidence. The market is certainly volatile and is not for the faint of heart, but the potential for cryptocurrencies is bright. This can be argued from several observations:
Bitcoin continues to receive an influx of investment from mainstream users. With every spike in value, a new round of actors enters its market hysteria. There will continue to be spikes and corrections correlating with the adoption and the evolution of the technology, but as time goes on, the price bounces will become more stable as the technology and market mature.
Tens of thousands proof of concepts around the world is a testament to blockchain’s potential success. Practically every vertical market is investigating the use of blockchain in their environment. Even if a fraction of them survive, it will further propel crypto into the mainstream.
Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google (aka. FAANG[iii], on Wall Street) continue to investigate the use of cryptocurrencies in their services. Once big players are on board, there will be a cascading effect of secondary and tertiary players following their lead.
Crypto Dependencies
In addition, there are three main factors mainly driving bitcoin and blockchain to the mainstream:
The user experience and user interface (i.e. UI/UX) for applications need to improve in order to attract brick and mortar companies. Many blockchain projects are focused on offering a more robust experience for their users.
Adoption is necessary to legitimize crypto into and connect cMarketplaces with mainstream eMarketplaces. As new users are enticed by Bitcoin’s hype, they also get “hooked” into the trading game. Once you’re in, you’re. Traders learn to adjust, to fluctuating market conditions, even if the market drops, they typically don’t abandon their investment – they look at the next opportunity.
Stability is necessary to legitimize bitcoin. This has yet to play-out in crypto. But volatility attracts new players who have a high risk-to-reward ratio.
Blockchain will propagate due to its ability to flatten the world’s flow of information and data sharing capabilities. Applications that showcase such abilities will shine.
? Adel ? Opinions
If you liked this article and would like to read more in this series, then check them out here:
Gabriel is a sales and marketing expert with over 25 years in senior positions at Motorola, VeriSign (acquired by Symantec in 2010 for 1.250 billion US$), and SecureWorks (acquired by Dell in 2011 for 612 million US$), and Cognitive Security (acquired by Cisco in 2013 for 25 million US$). He is a blockchain entrepreneur, with strengths in international business strategy. Gabriel has a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Canada and expert knowledge in blockchain incubation, cloud computing, IT security, and video streaming, and Over the Top Content (OTT). Gabriel also runs his own company, Euro Tech Startups s.r.o., and manages a professional blog at https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom.
[iii] Kenneth G. Winans, “Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google Are Too Hot. These Other Tech Names Look Better” (Forbes, November 16, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kennethwinans/2017/11/16/facebook-apple-amazon-netflix-google-are-too-hot-these-other-tech-names-look-better/&refURL=https://www.google.at/&referrer=https://www.google.at/)
How Blockchain Subverts Today’s Entrenched Power Structures
By: Gabriel Dusil, co-Founder & General Manager,
Adel Ecosystem Ltd.
&: John McLeod, Founder,
JEA Associates Ltd.
Mankind has been shaped by borders, whether physical, geographical, technological or financial. Societies have found ways to structure themselves into coherent and ordered blocks. Over the last few centuries empires have risen and fallen, wars have been waged and physical borders have moved. Governments, institutions and multi-lateral structures underpinning political and financial borders have remained intact.
The financial crash of 2008 shook public confidence in banks and government-backed financial institutions that saw billions of dollars, euros, and pounds spent on shoring up the financial system through quantitative easing. Public confidence in financial institutions and governments was at an all-time low. It is no coincidence that Bitcoin emerged out of this economic crisis where traditional institutions failed. A viable alternative was needed without the oversight of big-brother.
Blockchain services undermine traditional forms of governance because it’s decentralized and its users are typically anonymous. This assumes impunity from government and central banks. Anonymous actors are micro components of a growing ecosystem. To date, this crypto sphere has been relatively left untouched by the authorities of the “real-world”, where regulation typically lags innovation.
This raises real questions about how crypto’s services should be managed. Techno-libertarians envision utopian self-regulation, with codified rules that evolve with the technology. Anyone who denies these programmatic rules essentially forfeits their right to participate in this space. Crypto-anarchists envision a free-rule zone for blockchain businesses and unconstrained virtual currency commerce. Within this zone, blockchain businesses would operate free from government intervention and regulation. Bitcoin is essentially a sandbox experiment that is demonstrating how crypto technologies will be successful and be applied to real-world scenarios.
Bitcoin is a sandbox experiment, demonstrating how crypto will be successful.
Whichever form it takes, blockchain technology will need to entertain the notion of regulatory oversight, for it to gain mainstream acceptance. For this to happen, both the public and private sectors should have a seat at the same table, to establish a common ground for governance and enforcement.
Creating and adopting an agreed set of standards requires consensus from all major stakeholders. Internet’s protocols (e.g. TCP/IP, HTML, and Java) took years before reaching mass adoption. But eventually, this was achieved through well-constructed and easy to implement standards. Crypto coders redefining their own product lifecycle to accelerate adoption by excluding the powers-that-be from the socio-economic power pyramid. For the time being, they are at the pinnacle of this power hierarchy, with governments, banks and even citizens treated as outsiders. But history has shown that closed solutions are not scalable, to the same potential as standards. Any developer can set the rules of their homegrown blockchain. Have the geeks inherited the earth?
We have reached a unique point where the traditional power brokers who normally put the brakes on disruptive technologies have been sidelined in favor of a newly defined crypto power hierarchy. Governments nor banks control the crypto sphere, but they maintain partial control of cyberspace and the real world. Within the isolated world of crypto, this hierarchy works, but if mass-market adoption is the plan then consensus with the brick and mortar world is needed. The open question is whether this is in the interest of crypto coders, miners, and service providers.
Who could have predicted the spectacular rise in the value of Bitcoin and Ethereum just five years ago? A 100 US$ investment in Bitcoin in 2013 would now be worth 7000 US$ today[i]. Satoshi Nakamoto could not have predicted the creation of nearly 4000 virtual currencies on CoinLib[ii] ten years after releasing his white paper and over 100 thousand token contracts[iii] on the Ethereum blockchain. Only a brave person can envisage what the next five years have in store. It is safe to conclude, however, that crypto has proved its detractors wrong and its potential benefits to humanity are vast. Interoperability, scalability, security, and ease of use for the average person are all questions that need to be answered.
For the first time in history, people have the potential to break down the traditional borders that have divided them, whether geographically, technologically or economically. Individuals are empowered to create crypto services free from government regulation or any other centralized authorities. We have currency for the people by the people, and of the people, only time will tell which direction it takes, and who shapes its future.
? Adel ? Opinions
If you liked this article and would like to read more in this series, then check them out here:
Gabriel is a sales and marketing expert with over 25 years in senior positions at Motorola, VeriSign (acquired by Symantec in 2010 for 1.250 billion US$), and SecureWorks (acquired by Dell in 2011 for 612 million US$), and Cognitive Security (acquired by Cisco in 2013 for 25 million US$). He is a blockchain entrepreneur, with strengths in international business strategy. Gabriel has a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Canada and expert knowledge in blockchain incubation, cloud computing, IT security, and video streaming, and Over the Top Content (OTT). Gabriel also runs his own company, Euro Tech Startups s.r.o., and manages a professional blog at https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom.
John has spent nearly a decade working for a number of leading public relations firms in London, focusing primarily on PR management in the financial services sector. John’s expertise includes blockchain technology and the evolution of cryptocurrencies in financial services. That’s why he recently founded his own consulting firm, JEA Associates Ltd., which is specifically positioned to communicate the value proposition of this burgeoning technology. John has spent the past year successfully executing campaigns for a digital currency consultancy, decentralized financial solutions, and online payments platforms.
Adel is a technology incubator for blockchain innovation. Our community collaborates on ideas and uses the AdelWiki™ to collectively create business plans. Members vote on projects and can become profit participates when they are launched. Expertise within the community brings mentoring, learning, and employment opportunities. Successful projects are re-invested for further growth or issued as rewards to members. Adel is blockchain agnostic and will harness the features of any open-ledger platform to showcase its potential. Our mission is to incubate projects that will positively change the world.
? Adelphoi | Digital Currency for Adel Ecosystem
Many virtual currencies are a utility or equity tokens on their corresponding blockchains. The Adelphoi (ADL) coin is different, in that it uses a comprehensive process of Idea2Project incubation, to fuel its own ecosystem.
“The Bitcoin and Blockchain conference held in Berlin was Adel’s forth time presenting for Smile Expo throughout 2017 and 2018. We are continually impressed by Smile Expo’s event management and production. Their real-time posts on social media, after each presentation, is a great touch. Smile Expo is a pleasure to work with, and we look forward to continued cooperation and delivering quality content to Smile Expo’s attendees.”
Gabriel Dusil, co-founder & board member, Adel
Abstract
? Adel’s co-founder explores the creation of virtual communities fueling by blockchain innovation. The presentation explores the evolution of the Virtual State™ and the Borderless Citizen™. Thanks to the Internet, and blockchain technology, the world is waking up to a political, economic, social and technological renaissance. The next two decades will be a fundamental shift in human interaction, sharing, and freedom. All aspects of vertical and horizontal markets will be affected, including Finance & Banking, Healthcare, eGovernment, Communications, Information Technology (IT) and the Internet of things (IoT). Adel’s General Manager will analyze this paradigm shift in social behavior and present a vision for the future.
“It was a pleasure to speak at Smile Expo’s Bitcoin & Blockchain Conference in Helsinki. Having attended several of their events in 2018, we found the quality of speakers improving with each conference. Great job, team! We were honored to speak to the Finnish delegates on Adel’s future vision of the crypto sphere and promoting blockchain to mainstream use. Check out our Smile Expo presentations at https://www.adelphoi.io/videos/conferences.”
Gabriel Dusil, co-founder & board member, Adel
Abstract
? Blockchain services undermine traditional forms of governance because it’s decentralised and its users are typically anonymous. This assumes impunity from government and central banks. In crypto the collective consensus of coders, miners, and anonymous actors are micro components of a growing ecosystem. To date this crypto sphere has been relatively left untouched by the authorities of the “real-world”. This raises real questions about how crypto’s services should be managed. Techno-Libertarians envision utopian self-regulation, with codified rules that evolve with the technology. Crypto-anarchists envision a free-rule zone for blockchain businesses and unconstrained virtual currency commerce. Anyone who denies these programmatic rules essentially forfeit their right to participate in this space.
Adel’s co-founder explores the creation of the Borderless Citizen™, fueled by blockchain innovation and the underlying cryptoversification evolution of the Virtual State™.
This was a great crypto event in the northern coast of Poland. The conference was held in the factory where the original German U-Boats were manufactured, during the second world war. Adwell Media did a great job on the production of this event, and we were excited to get onto the evening news that week.
Gabriel Dusil, co-founder & board member, Adel
Adel on the Evening News ? TVP3 Poland
Adel has been featured on the Polish evening news! Polish channel TVP3 covered the blockchain conference in Gdansk as well as bitcoin & other cryptocurrencies. Although the broadcast is in Polish, their footage shows our presentation and logo shown multiple times, in the background:
? Adel’s co-founder explores the creation of virtual communities fueling by blockchain innovation. The presentation explores the evolution of the Virtual State™ and the Borderless Citizen™.
Thanks to the Internet, and blockchain technology, the world is waking up to a political, economic, social and technological renaissance. The next two decades will be a fundamental shift in human interaction, sharing, and freedom. All aspects of vertical and horizontal markets will be affected, including Finance & Banking, Healthcare, eGovernment, Communications, Information Technology (IT) and the Internet of things (IoT). Adel’s General Manager will analyze this paradigm shift in social behavior and present a vision for the future.
