Richard Branson: Blockchain Could Produce an ‘Economic Revolution’
Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder and billionaire entrepreneur, said yesterday at an event in London that the blockchain technology could create an ‘economic revolution’ to numerous countries worldwide.
At the Virgin Disruptors Week in London, Branson took some time out to talk about the potential of blockchain and how it’s being used, reports CNBC .
During his discussion, he focused on the partnership between economist Hernando de Soto, BitFury, the bitcoin mining company, and the Republic of Georgia’s National Agency of Public Registry. They aim to trial a land titling distributed ledger platform.
When it comes to developing countries, land titles can often be forged or stolen from their rightful owners, making the process of determining who owns what more difficult.
Speaking at the event, Branson said that:
If you take somewhere like Egypt, 90 percent of people have got houses, they’ve got a garden, but they’ve got no piece of paper to show ownership of that. And without ownership of your property, it’s almost impossible to start a business or get a bank loan or anything.
According to Branson, he said at the event that blockchain technology could produce a ‘real economic revolution in these countries that would be stagnating.’
Branson Supports Blockchain Technology
When it comes to the world of blockchain technology, Branson is an avid supporter of it. So-much-so, that over the last two years, the entrepreneur has hosted the ‘Blockchain Summit’ on his private Necker Island.
This sees industry leaders and innovators flocking to his island where discussions on blockchain take place. As a result of his summit the Blockchain Alliance was born.
Not only that, but he thinks the digital currency, bitcoin, is doing quite well too. In a video interview with Bloomberg News, Branson said that ‘bitcoin is working.’
He further showed his support of bitcoin in a 2014 Virgin blog post titled ‘Why I Invest in Startups ’ where he discusses his involvement with bitcoin and his investment in BitPay.
It’s clear to see that with important business-minded people such as Richard Branson discussing the positive benefits of blockchain and its use, that it will eventually produce the revolution that the technology promises.
Featured image from Flickr/Jarle Naustvik .
