Peter Diamandis: Blockchain Technology will enable Extraordinary Transformation

Renowned futurist Peter Diamandis, the author of “Abundance – the Future is Better Than You Think” and “Bold – How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World,” has written a thoughtful post on Singularity HUB with 8 predictions for the next ten years. He is persuaded that we’ll see extraordinary transformation in the next decade and that blockchain technology will be one of the enablers.

“If you haven’t heard of the blockchain, I highly recommend you read up on it,” says Diamandis. “You might have heard of bitcoin, which is the decentralized (global), democratized, highly secure cryptocurrency based on the blockchain. But the real innovation is the blockchain itself, a protocol that allows for secure, direct (without a middleman), digital transfers of value and assets (think money, contracts, stocks, IP). Investors like Marc Andreesen have poured tens of millions into the development and believe this is as important of an opportunity as the creation of the Internet itself.”

Diamandis, who co-founded the XPrize and the Singularity University, believes that Bitcoin is a disruptive technology poised to have a big impact.

“At its core, bitcoin is a smart currency, designed by very forward-thinking engineers,” he wrote in Forbes in June 2014. “It eliminates the need for banks, gets rid of credit card fees, currency exchange fees, money transfer fees, and reduces the need for lawyers in transitions… all good things. Most importantly, it is an ‘exponential currency’ that will change the way we think about money. Much the same way email changed the way we thought of mail. (Can you remember life before email?)”

In the same article, Diamandis predicted that “Fall 2014 thru 2015 will like see the start of the Wall Street Phase [of Bitcoin]” – a prediction fully validated by current events – and then, “Finally will come the ‘Mass Global Consumer Adoption’ phase – this is where bitcoin becomes a major player in the global economy.” According to Diamandis, this phase is only a couple of years out.

Diamandis’ Singularity University, an educational center dedicated to world-changing applications of disruptive, exponentially accelerating technologies, is based at Moffett Federal Airfield, formerly operated by NASA. In November 2014, NASA announced that it would be leasing the airfield to Google for 60 years. Google is one of the corporate founders of Singularity University.

On June 2-3 in New York, Singularity University and CNBC will host the Exponential Finance 2015 conference, which will examine how rapidly accelerating technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, crowdfunding, digital currencies and robotics are rapidly disrupting businesses throughout the financial industry.

The conference program features an impressive set of high-profile speakers, including Blythe Masters, the former J.P. Morgan star who now leads digital currency startup Digital Asset Holdings. Masters’ presentation will be titled “Blockchain: the Financial Challenge of our time.” Brock Pierce, founder and Managing Partner of Crypto Currency Partners (CCP), and Abra CEO Bill Barhydt will also give talks related to digital currencies.

Another high profile speaker, Singularity University Networks & Computing Chair and former Chairman of the Board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation Brad Templeton, is persuaded that bitcoin and other virtual currencies are significant in that they take some aspects of finance that were formerly in the hands of professionals and unlock them for the public at large. In a Big Think video interview, he explains why Bitcoin matters.

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