Blockchains and Governments: "Will Blockchains Create a More Transparent Political World?”

The blockchain is here to stay. We all know that by now. The relevant question is just how far this decentralized technology will reach in terms of disrupting the world. Is Blockchain the missing link for Governments around the world?

Just this past week, President Donald Trump shook the international community by going against the FBI; Trump declared that he will approve the release of a GOP memo that incriminates the very institution as well as other huge names in America’s political game. The memo created a political firestorm by suggesting that the recent probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election were tainted by political bias, ultimately dragging a lot of names (both inside and outside of the US) into the limelight. Wait, it's not over yet, as this post is being drafted, we have yet another declassification debate unfolding in regards to the Democratic memo and awaiting the President's decision on another "declassification" decision.

Looking at the whole picture, this is ultimately an issue of transparency that reveals the many problems society has in terms of trust structure. The biggest two are (1) voting integrity and (2) breaches and alterations of records.

These are both issues that—coincidentally—can be solved by deploying blockchain technology. Let’s examine the practice.

Blockchain Votes

Outside of cryptocurrencies, blockchain is the pinnacle of technology; it improves trust systems that can potentially change industries and even state activities. The area that most needs blockchain to be applied as soon as possible is the voting systems of states and governments. The blockchain system is a decentralized and perfect ledger system—what better way exists to increase voting integrity than to open the books and records themselves to the public?

From a theoretical perspective, the possibilities seem endless. Election integrity is always under scrutiny—especially in recent times with news of Russian interference in the US presidential election and even the controversial UK Brexit vote. Under a blockchain system, each voter can be assigned an “account” and a single “transaction” to cast a vote. The “shared ledger” structure of blockchain technology itself could allow votes to be stored in different individual nodes, which would make modifying or altering votes virtually impossible.

Just imagine a fully functioning blockchain-based voting system that cannot be questioned. We might be able to finally put an end to a majority of political and societal disputes—or at least have a fair and just ledger system to track facts.

Breaches and Alterations of Records

We’ve seen the scenario in many super-spy films and conspiracy documentaries: people can alter records and breach even the tightest security measures on the planet. This puts most of us regular citizens on guard whenever the government does something as sensitive as accessing our data or addressing breaches in their systems.

What if the records aren’t true? What if interference really did occur during voting? What if the evidence really was erased?

These are the standard questions that we ask under the systems we currently know—questions that simply cannot exist in a blockchain ecosystem.

Blockchain can track and provide proof of any transaction. It offers a disruptive potential for areas outside cryptocurrency because of how it facilitates and distributes trust and transparency across its network. An example is already happening in Georgia where blockchain is being used to validate land and property ownership and help ensure the authenticity of any property transaction.

This is like a system that makes and executes contracts on its own without the interference of a third party, ultimately reducing the need for lawyers and brokers. Just imagine blockchains being applied to every aspect of a government in which public trust is always challenged and that offers no way of really knowing what’s happening behind the scenes.

At the moment, these are all just our speculations; however, with the technology now functioning and driving a market of its own, we fully expect blockchain to eventually touch every aspect of society—it’s only a matter of time. We at STXBlockchain are here to provide the latest news on our continuously disrupted world. Stay tuned for more! http://www.STXBlockchain.com