NEW WORDS FOR A NEW WORLD
I believe, very soon, we’ll use a revolutionary new technology to buy and sell things on the internet. I’ve designed my own company, Atomic Network, to eventually operate entirely on this extraordinary new technology because I believe it will ultimately replace both the paper money and modern day credit and debit cards we’ve used all our lives. This fundamental transformation of global commerce will be powered by new concepts with new names: “Bitcoin,” “Smart Contracts on the Blockchain,” and “Cryptocurrency.” Believe me, these are nothing less than new words for a New World.
Cryptocurrency and its first digital token, Bitcoin, were created in 2008 by a mysterious entity known only as Satoshi Nakamoto. Was Satoshi the name of a single, brilliant individual or was the name “Satoshi” an alias for a group of rebellious cypher-punks pretending to be one man (for fear of persecution from the government)? No one knows conclusively. Searching for the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is an enduring mystery still waiting to be solved.
Whoever Satoshi was we know one thing for sure: Satoshi took an evolutionary step forward in the future of global trade. Cryptocurrency is, essentially, digital money. “Digital” means Bitcoin is not a metal coin you can hold in your hand. It only exists in the digital realm — the world of the computer.
Why is Bitcoin better than using traditional fiat currency? Because cryptocurrency allows two people anywhere in the world to conduct a business transaction without the traditional middle man — the authorization of a government or a bank — that people today must use to secure the transaction against theft or other criminal activity.
Instead of a bank or a government that needs to collect a fee for their services, cryptocurrency uses a secured system called Smart Contracts on the Blockchain.” A blockchain is a digital ledger. It contains a continually updated history of all the smart contracts (time-stamped, digital transactions) that have occurred involving one individual product or commodity. The record is permanent and theoretically hack proof.
The information about these transactions is decentralized, meaning the details of the transaction aren’t kept in one place or on just one (central) computer. Instead, the information is stored on multiple computers, called “nodes,” thousands of them, so that hacking the information is virtually impossible (because a hacker would have to locate and simultaneously hack into all the thousands of computer nodes recording the transaction all over the globe all at the same time — no small feat!)
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS BY CORPORATE GIANTS
This new, fundamentally simpler and transparent system is already being tested by several premium corporations in attempts to streamline and improve their infrastructures. Walmart, for example, has set up tests using the blockchain to simplify and improve the efficiency of their product shipping. By using the blockchain, they’re able to scan an item, such as a specific shipment of apples, and trace the apples back to the farm they were grown and then use the connectivity of the blockchain to be able to locate where, precisely, in their company store room that apple shipment is currently located.
In the travel industry, where passengers often complain about long lines and even longer waiting times at travel hubs, airports have begun to test the use of blockchain technology to see if they can improve the speed and distribution of flight information, security lines, and passenger check-in procedures.
FedEx has started a blockchain pilot program designed to see if it can help settle customer disputes faster and with minimal bureaucracy. FedEx hopes storing customer data on the blockchain will allow the company to more quickly locate and cross-reference the needed data.
Meanwhile, several start-up companies, armed with blockchain infrastructures, are intent on challenging Google’s online dominance. This only makes sense. The dawn of a new technology could enable new companies to rise quickly and achieve competitive prominence in the giant tech arena. Google is savvy enough to see new companies attempting to leverage the power of cryptocurrency to effectively compete and even potentially usurp their market domination. However, Google isn’t going anywhere without a fight.
The accelerated competition is motivating Google’s own efforts to alter or even transform its infrastructure to harness the power of smart contracts on the blockchain. If history has shown us anything, the ability to adapt and incorporate new technology into your established business model can be a life saver. The corporate graveyard is filled with companies that were too slow to change with the times. (Blockbuster Video, Radio Shack, and most recently, Toys R Us)
Google is studying the possibility of using smart contracts on the blockchain to better secure information on the cloud. They believe a de-centralized storage system for their customers’ personal data would be even more effective than the security methods used now. They’re not wrong. And they’re not alone: Microsoft and IBM are both currently doing research to explore what’s possible with cryptocurrency and smart contracts on the blockchain to potential empower and more fully evolve their business models.
SMART CONTRACTS ON THE BLOCKCHAIN AND THE FUTURE OF INDUSTRY.
As our industrial technology evolves, Moore’s Law assures us computer chips will continue to grow smaller and faster. 4G will soon become 5G, allowing cell phone reception to improve in speed and capability, while expanding coverage areas to include ever more remote corners of the world. But despite these remarkable leaps forward in technology, there are still enormous industries struggling to meet the needs of their customers.
Take the healthcare industry as an example. Methods used to store a patient’s medical records are borderline archaic. The methodology is slow, prone to errors, and hard to continually and efficiently update. This is acutely problematic in a profession where the latest medical information about a patient’s physical condition is often the most important information. A patient’s medical records should be both private and yet easily accessed by authorized individuals who can accurately update a patient’s health record, and make those updates instantly available to a variety of health care professionals.
The connectivity and ease of smart contracts on the blockchain might finally streamline the bureaucracy of the healthcare industry, solving many of the bureaucratic data-use problems plaguing healthcare today.
Banking institutions would be wise to investigate the benefits of contracts on the blockchain. Right now, it can still take several days for two banks to perform a standard money-transfer while demanding a fee for their service. With cryptocurrency and smart contracts, a peer-to-peer money transfer could be instantaneous for a much smaller fee. Smart contracts could also provide notarizing functions, recording verbal statements and serving as a permanent and reliable record of any official document or conversation.
The restaurant industry will also be revolutionized by smart contracts and cryptocurrency tokens. Like Walmart, restaurants will more easily be able to order their produce or meat from a specific farm and easily track food and supply shipments to ensure an unbroken process-chain from farm to table. I can easily imagine a McDonald’s token (The McToken) or a Starbucks token.
THE FUTURE OF ATOMIC NETWORK
It’s clear to me the world is changing. The creation of Atomic Network is my way to embrace that change. I want to surf the coming tech tsunami by creating the kind of television production and media streaming company the world has never seen.
With Atomic Network, we’ll incorporate smart contracts on the blockchain in tandem with our own proprietary cryptocurrency token called ATOMIC. By using Atomic tokens, my subscribers will have opportunities no other television content provider can give them. Our subscribers will be able to watch our content wherever they go on their mobile devices. They’ll be able to order our series a la carte, using Atomic tokens to pay only for what they want to see and nothing more, and that’s only the beginning.
Atomic Network subscribers will also be able to use Atomic tokens to pay for special merchandise offers, attend VIP events, even influence the creative direction of a series or “tip” their favorite actor for a particularly powerful performance. Smart contracts on the blockchain will also speed up and improve our production process, revolutionizing the way television production operates in the 21st century. The future of global business may one day soon be entirely transformed by the innovative use of cryptocurrency and smart contracts on the blockchain.
Today, the technology is brand new, and the best ideas on how to use and take advantage of cryptocurrency are only now beginning to be explored. I believe the business world is about to profoundly evolve in new and wonderful ways. I guarantee Atomic Network will be at the fore front of the technological innovations that are coming and will arrive, I suspect, a lot sooner than most of us anticipate. In the words of my mentor, Gene Roddenberry: “Everything hasn’t been invented. The human adventure is just beginning.”
Atomic Network will lead the way to building a better future by offering our proprietary cryptocurrency tokens, Atomic Tokens (ATOMIC), in our Token Crowdsale.
The pre-sale begins Tuesday, March 27, 2018, and our public sale starts May 26, 2018. For details on how you can participate, go to: https://atomicnetwork.io
*CEO of Atomic Network and AtomicBrain Studios, Producer, Creator, Screenwriter, Author, Futurist, Attorney and serial Entrepreneur
