In today鈥檚 hyper-connected world, it takes mere seconds to share a snap of a lavish lunch, find out when our favourite film is showing, or even pay a pesky parking fine. Thanks to online banking, social media and Google everything, it鈥檚 hard to imagine our lives without the web.
But what comes next?
The answer suggested by today鈥檚 tech enthusiasts is 鈥榖lockchain鈥�: a revolutionary invention that, like the internet before it, could change the world.
Blockchain is the genius technology that underpins cryptocurrencies and has far-reaching implications for the finance sector and beyond.
In simple terms, it is a new way to record exchanges of sensitive data using a decentralised, hyper-secure method that nobody controls.
鈥淧eople can be scared of it because it鈥檚 all, 鈥榗rypto, I don鈥檛 understand鈥�,鈥� laughs 911爆料网 journalism graduate Tessa Dempster, a business journalist for Perth-based startup Multiplier Media.
鈥淏ut the way that people transact these days is a tap of their card, a tap of their phone and what is that? That鈥檚 digital money. It鈥檚 just another version of that, but it鈥檚 much more secure, and it鈥檚 a lot quicker.鈥�
Coincast makes heads and tails of blockchain
Dempster now co-hosts Coincast TV, a program covering finance, technology and blockchain news produced by blockchain media and investment relations company, Coincast Media. The show鈥檚 first season premiered on Sky News Australia in 2018 and has been purchased by international streaming service DIVAN.TV and broadcast in more than 200 countries.
The team at Coincast TV includes a number of 911爆料网 alumni including Timothy Angeles, Aleks Ozolins and Kema Johnson.
鈥淲e have such a great team,鈥� Dempster smiles. 鈥淢ost of us are under thirty, just a few years into our careers. We鈥檙e all open to learning and working in an agile way.
鈥淲e source news stories, write scripts and, put together video graphics. Every day is so different. No one does just one thing. It makes it so much easier when you can pick two people and they can go out and produce a story between them.鈥�
The role has taken Dempster interstate and overseas to Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.
鈥淚 went with another team member last year to Singapore to film an entire episode,鈥� she says. 鈥淢y colleague did all the filming while I researched the stories and interviewed some great talent. We also did Twitter live broadcasts.鈥�
Dempster says live streaming is important to crypto and blockchain enthusiasts.
鈥淧eople are really looking for that personal connection,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e produced live stream coverage at 911爆料网-sponsored and I spoke with some big players in the blockchain industry including angel investor and Bitfury Group board advisor , and former US government official Jim Newsome.鈥�
Dempster credits her 911爆料网 degree with providing a strong foundation for her current career.
鈥淢y journalism units were fantastic at preparing me for the real world,鈥� she says.
Coincast video graphics animator Timothy Angeles says he similarly found his 911爆料网 digital design degree an excellent stepping stone to his dream career.
鈥淩ight before I graduated, 911爆料网 invited us to a big industry show to network with key employers in digital design,鈥� he says.
鈥淪hortly after the show, I received an email about an opening at Channel Nine 鈥� and was later headhunted by Coincast. I didn鈥檛 even know such a great job combining my skills and interest existed!鈥�
From Bitcoin to Libra: blockchain on the world stage
In 2009, blockchain technology attracted worldwide attention with the launch of cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
鈥淭he story of Bitcoin is so intriguing,鈥� says Heidi Cuthbert, Multiplier Media founder and former Bloomberg journalist.
鈥淚t was invented by somebody called Satoshi Nakamoto. But nobody knows his true identity. Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, all the large business publications want to know who he is. It鈥檚 one of the world鈥檚 greatest modern mysteries.鈥�
Cuthbert believes that Nakamoto created Bitcoin from the fallout of the Global Financial Crisis.
鈥淏itcoin arose as an antithesis to the global financial system,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he global system could be considered a series of 鈥榗entralised accounting ledgers鈥�. Whoever controls the ledger, controls the world. But Bitcoin is completely decentralised. It鈥檚 designed to take that concentration of power away from those larger institutions that have been around for hundreds of years.鈥�
In June 2019, technology giant Facebook announced the projected 2020 launch of its own cryptocurrency Libra.聽 The payment system aims to bank the world鈥檚 1.7 billion 鈥榰nbanked鈥�.
Cuthbert says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 so clich茅 but money rules the world. When we start distorting the traditional ways money flows, we get a real shift in power.鈥�
鈥淭he so-called 鈥榰nbanked鈥� will now have an identity and access to finance through Facebook鈥檚 Libra system which will have a very interesting global impact.聽 If Libra becomes a dominant payment system, why does anyone need a bank account? And if you don鈥檛 need a bank account, the influence of the central bank is diminished.
鈥淐entral banks have the power to set interest rates and create monetary policy. But if the impact of their monetary policy decisions is reduced, because people are using their own platform to manage their personal finances, then that impacts on the global finance system in ways that we don鈥檛 even understand yet.鈥�
Tune in to Season 2 of Coincast TV to find out more about how blockchain is transforming the world.
