How blockchain technology can change our everyday lives
The benefits of blockchain technology and tokens, popularly associated with cryptocurrencies, go far beyond the fintech world. The traceability, security, speed and transparency of blockchain, in addition to its relatively lower cost, means that this technology offers valuable benefits in many aspects of daily life, such as streamlining bureaucratic procedures, monitoring daily habits or giving people closer control over their digital identity . The report “Tokenise Europe 2025”, in which BBVA participated, discusses the benefits of “tokenizing” the European economy.
‘Tokenisation’ of an asset involves creating a digital version of it (the ‘token’) that contains all the information and digital rights associated with that asset, linked together in a programmable and automated way. Tokenized assets can be currencies, stocks, bonds, artwork NFTs and more.
Tokens move on blockchain networks that keep track of how many tokens each network user owns and the transactions they use them in: a blockchain is effectively a digital ledger. What distinguishes blockchain from other accounting systems is that the registration and control of transactions is not reserved for any single bank, company or individual. Instead, the ledger is managed by hundreds of thousands of interconnected computers, each keeping a complete copy of the record. So blockchain has several powerful features: it enables fast, secure and unmediated automated transactions, it provides traceability and transparency, and its records are immutable.
These functions are of great interest to companies, authorities, financial institutions and the public, as they can drive the digitization of many sectors of society. This is shown in ‘Tokenise Europe 2025. Should Europe develop into a token economy?’, a report in which BBVA has participated. In addition to examining the benefits and the current implementation level of blockchain, the report calls for a firm commitment to digitize the European economy and provides a vision of what it would be like in a future powered by this technology.
From organizing routines to streamlining procedures
In a society that has implemented blockchain in their daily lives, ordinary people can use it to organize their routines. For example, the ‘Tokenise Europe 2025’ report suggests that smartwatches and refrigerators can store a user’s data to know their hours of sleep and daily physical activity, and the food available in the fridge, to recommend a suitable shopping list for the user to buy instantly with their digital wallet . In addition, a user can receive real-time updates on the best means of transport to get to work each day based on traffic conditions, or manage a digital wallet to control all their assets and financial transactions, including payments and transfers, savings and investments.
These examples show the potential of this technology in the healthcare sector, with functions that go beyond connection to digital devices. “Blockchain makes it possible for the user or patient to control their data effectively and achieve a digital identity on their own terms. The user can choose the doctor they want to show their data to and which data to show,” explains Jesús Herencia, professor specializing in blockchain technology at EAE Business School. He adds: “Exactly the same applies to job searching: the technology allows the job seeker to choose which information should be shown to the potential employer.”
Making it possible to self-manage digital identities using a blockchain is the goal of the Dalion project, run by a consortium of companies that includes BBVA. The project aims to develop a tool that users will be able to centralize all their data and credentials in a single app, share them easily with public authorities and businesses, control the way their data is transferred, and revoke their credentials when necessary. Ensuring that users have a strong, secure and decentralized digital identity will become increasingly important for building relationships between businesses, public authorities and users in the new environments that will arise from Web3, such as the metaverse.
Blockchain is already used to share credentials in some healthcare and educational environments. The EU digital COVID certificate is a clear example: the immutability and security of a blockchain enables a person to be accredited to the relevant authority quickly and reliably. The technology proved to be the ideal solution for implementing a universal vaccination pass. In the academic field, BCDiploma allows a person to present verifiable credentials for his or her degrees at any of the 120 universities, companies and other institutions in the 18 countries where it already operates. Both use cases also point to the future potential of ‘digital wallets’, which will contain users’ credentials so that they do not need to create new identities and passwords every time they want to register for a public service.
“On the education side, the EBSI network (European Blockchain Services Infrastructure) was created to build solutions that include educational credentials. These certificates take exclusive control away from issuing organizations, whether public or private, and give it back to users,” explains Guillem Ferrer, CEO director of BITLAB Group, a global education platform that is blockchain-certified for Web3 technologies: “Blockchain also prevents CV forgery because it creates immutable records.” Until now, obtaining the certificate for the degree, course or program has depended on the speed of the issuing institution. Sometimes it will take months to issue the certificate. Not to mention the requirements (official translations, seals, apostilles, etc.) for validation in other countries. In this field, a blockchain enables the rapid issuance of credentials and direct, secure access for the applicant. The validity of the qualification is immediately validated for institutions, organizations and potential employers that form part of the blockchain network created for this purpose.
Verification of information is a use case that benefits companies that use it for supply chains in the food and automotive sectors. In vehicle-related industries, blockchain technology also has applications related to insurance, fuel payments and shared vehicles. Cabify, for example, uses blockchain technology to digitize and map both carbon footprint measurement and carbon dioxide (CO₂) compensation to achieve carbon neutrality.
The potential for full tokenization
For Miguel Caballero, CEO of Tutellus, a crypto community for learning, developing and investing in tokenized projects, these examples are just anecdotes compared to the potential of a leap from the use of blockchain technology to full tokenization.
“In the educational environment, for example, students always have to pay for their studies. But if the system is tokenized, they can actually earn money for studying.” Caballero explains: “The more a student studies, the more they engage in class activities, the more they help their classmates or complete class projects, the more tokens they receive. . It is a sustainable business model, as the student’s contribution has a positive impact on others and on the educational institution. If it is private, it can sell more products and attract more students. If it’s public, it gets an enhanced reputation.”
Tokenization has reached, for example, the real estate and art sectors, where “access to assets has always been in the hands of the very few, because users need 300,000 euros to invest. However, tokenization allows for very small financial entities. So with 100 euros you can invest from anywhere in the world,” explains Caballero.
PwC estimates that blockchain technology has the potential to increase global GDP by around $1.7 trillion (€1.5 trillion at current exchange rates) by 2030, led by China and the United States. The European market is set to grow from $2 billion (€1.8 billion) in 2021 to $150 billion (€140 billion).
Such an imbalance between these regions proves the importance of initiatives like “Tokenise Europe 2025” to achieve solutions that benefit the European public and ensure business success in a market that will dominate the future.
