By Ang Gao
Medill Reports
New York–The digital ledger platform blockchain is enabling a shift towards a safer, easier and more prosperous ecosystem by decentralizing assets and making peer-to-peer networks to govern all transactions, said blockchain experts, all Chinese, in a recent forum at Fordham University.
In a general sense, according to an article by Joss Everton on the Nasdaq website, decentralization means that no single entity has exclusive control over data or processes. Blockchain provides a basic level of decentralization because transactions are recorded by all users on the blockchain network, he stated.
The keynote speaker at the forum, Feng Han, co-founder of Elastos Foundation, a smart web powered by blockchain technology, predicted the “inevitability” of a decentralized system in the business world, envisioning great freedom of choice in markets and continuous creation of value and wealth.
“The most powerful asset of the digital age is data,” Han said. “Every individual should have control over their own data with the technology of blockchain to achieve real prosperity.”
Blockchain, Han said, applies coding, cryptography and other technologies to store data and build an interlinked network of computers. This ensures “a high level of security and privacy” of data because all the records of transactions and interactions will be stored in a decentralized manner in a blockchain network and there is no single point vulnerable to security breaches.
Xiaosong Liu, founder and CEO of A8 New Media Group, said blockchain will also greatly help protect the rights of the creator of content by building “a prosperous and decentralized ecosystem” and fighting against unfairness in the industry of entertainment and culture in China. “Music copyright infringement is widely considered as a serious problem in China,” Liu said. “And blockchain technology will protect the rights of songwriters by directly connecting them to the market.”
“The 2018 New York Blockchain and Digital Asset Forum” was held to discuss future applications of blockchain in various areas including real estate, automobiles, entertainment and culture.
The forum was hosted by Jiangang Luo, managing partner of Faith Asset Management LLC. Around 60 people attended, including international investors, entrepreneurs, and also students. The forum was mostly in Chinese.
A decentralized system will bring more power and opportunities for a larger group of people, said Lijie Zhu, managing director of Dragon Gate Investment Partners. However, she cautioned, seizing new opportunities requires an open-mindedness about differences in business mindsets. She also encouraged more women entrepreneurs to take action and start their own business.
In a related article published recently on website Pipes to Platforms, Sangeet Paul Choudary and Griffin Anderson wrote that there are two key aspects that make blockchain of particular interest. First, they stated, blockchain “leverages a peer-to-peer network to govern transactions and interactions,” and second, it manages this governance through a decentralized ledger and a common protocol “making it nearly impossible to create a fraudulent transaction.”
Suggesting a potential use of blockchain, Choudary and Anderson wrote that platforms like Uber and Airbnb are “operating a decentralized model of value creation and exchange” but now are moving back toward centralization. “As an intermediary, Uber poses all the threats that traditional intermediaries have posed while managing and regulating markets. This is why the blockchain could create a whole new model of platform intermediation,” they stated.
