Don Tapscott’s 2016 Ted Talk

Don Tapscott is one of the world’s leading thinkers on Blockchain.  He’s also the co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute – an independent, global think-tank.  In fact, according to Thinkers 50 – he has been ranked #2 in leading Global Thinkers.

This 20 minute Ted Talk is one of the clearest explanations of Blockchain.  Interesting, insightful, and easy to listen to.

A blockchain is a distributed software network that functions both as a digital ledger and a mechanism enabling the secure transfer of assets without an intermediary. Just as the internet is a technology that facilitates the digital flow of information, blockchain is a technology that facilitates the digital exchange of units of value. Anything from currencies to land titles to votes can be tokenized, stored, and exchanged on a blockchain network.

How Does That Impact Ecommerce?

According to this Forbes article by Giri Devanur:

Monopolies will become decentralized.  Right now, a few global players dominate ecommerce (Amazon, Alibaba etc).  There are hardly any challengers to existing players, and the cost of change is too high. Blockchain technology essentially decentralizes control and ensures that trust is achieved without the need for a centralized power. It also means greater transparency and power to the consumer.

Regulatory Changes.  Data protection laws (such as GDPR) will have an impact on blockchain technology and e-commerce players. Monopolies in the e-commerce world will come under different kinds of attacks.

Customers are becoming more aware of monopolistic powers.  They are taking a deeper interest in knowing the origins of a product, its sustainability and so on. This will result in a shake-up of e-commerce players, and a lot of vendors may get filtered out.