What is Blockchain?

Blockchain technology is essentially a publicly distributed ledger. When transactions using this technology are completed, they are recorded on the newest "block." When a block's capacity is filled, it is added to the end of the "chain" in linear order. This way of transferring money, supplies, or other assets eliminates the need for each transaction to go through various middlemen, like brokerages, payment processors and even banks. The fewer third-parties involved in facilitating transactions, the fewer players that take a small cut.

What does It Mean to Investors?

Blockchain technology is the most disruptive technology we have probably seen in our lifetime. It has the potential to be the universal, irrefutable depository of all transactions between all parties involved, whether it’s value transfer or record-keeping, it links everything to everything else. It’s about seamless trust, transparency, and efficiency. Blockchain technology has the potential to transform every industry from global shipping, prescription drugs and healthcare to automotive, aviation, manufacturing, banking, finance and even government. The age of prosperity can be found in a blockchain script. Nearly every industry will be disrupted by blockchain technology. Here are a few examples:

• FinTech: Blockchain and cryptocurrency can resolve critical issues in the $134-trillion conventional banking industry internationally. Blockchain tackles every problem from fees for sending payments through a third party, privacy threats and security risks, even cumbersome lending practices. That’s why large conglomerate banks have just partnered with FinTech companies to develop new blockchain technology.
• Freight Transport: Blockchain technology is already being used to track global trade and shipments in a $7-trillion industry. Since Blockchain technology enhances security and transparency, it could have a major impact on all types of supply chain transactions. Every time a product changes hands, from supplier to transport company to manufacturer to transport company to consumer, the transaction could be documented, creating a permanent history. This could dramatically reduce time delays, costs and human error that plague transactions today.
• Real Estate: The real estate industry is also a major beneficiary of blockchain tech. Previously, transacting high value assets such as real estate exclusively through digital channels has never been the norm. Real estate transactions are often conducted offline involving face-to-face engagements with various entities. Blockchain, however, opens opportunities to improve this process. The introduction of Smart Contracts in blockchain platforms now allows assets like real estate to be tokenized and be traded like cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Real estate wonderland Dubai is even putting its entire land registry on a block chain.
• Healthcare: The global healthcare IT market alone – valued at $134 billion last year – will utilize Blockchain to improve care and efficiency. Blockchain has the potential to accelerate innovation in preventative care and community-based healthcare models. The capacity of a distributed ledger technology for ensuring data integrity while sharing information between parties ensures collaboration and security in healthcare, which is vital to the improvement of healthcare worldwide. Blockchain will simplify and align complex team-based healthcare, finance and payment for provided care. The inherent properties of cryptographic public and private key access, proof of work and distributed data, creates a new level of integrity for healthcare information. Blockchain technology also makes it easy to track a drug as it moves from the manufacturer to the patient. This improves the traceability of a drug as it moves across the supply chain and helps prevent drug counterfeiting. The opportunities are endless.

Challenges for Blockchain Investors

Extreme Volatility

Investing in cryptocurrencies involves very risk as prices have been extremely volatile. One of the most popular and shared stories is illustrated by the guy who paid for a pizza with Bitcoin back in 2010. If he had saved the Bitcoin instead of buying that pizza, today he would have a net worth of approximately $20 million. That volatility is also the opportunity. In the past several months, as we witness the massive increase in attention, demand, and volatility of cryptocurrencies, many people are jumping into digital currencies like Bitcoin, trying to make money off of quick trades. Since these cryptocurrency prices are not regulated, as more people enter the market, the prices climb ever higher. However, with such volatility in this space, one might wonder how they can invest in digital currencies when the price can heavily fluctuate in a short period of time.

Loss of a Wallet File

There’s one more problem that is typical of all cryptocurrencies: loss or theft of a wallet. Most users store their cryptocurrency wallet files on their computers. Therefore, they can be stolen due to malware or lost if the hard disk crashes. So most advanced users make hard copies of their secret key and purchase USB hardware wallets. But the number of such users is small. Conventional e-money should be used with extra security measures, such as two-factor authentication and external USB drive backups.

Hacking

When it comes to money remittance, which is the practice of sending money across borders, blockchain has made it fairly simple to remove the middlemen by copying/pasting users’ wallet addresses. But has it? A typical wallet address is a long sequence of characters. However, not every user is vigilant and double-checks an address after copying it. There is a risk of malware altering the address in the clipboard. Additionally, novices can also be tricked into visiting to a phishing website where they unknowingly upload their private keys and submit passwords. Extreme causing must be used to oneself protect in this new frontier. During an ICO, the project team usually starts the fundraising event at a specified time and closes when the required amount has been collected. The collection address is posted on the project website when it opens (it’s not necessary, just common practice). One of the infamous ICO hacks took place when the hacker(s) got access to the project website and tampered the address. The hacker stole $7 million worth of Ethereum before the company was able to halt the token sale. In the case of a traditional banking system, there is always a fairly good chance of cancelling the transfer. With blockchain, none of the transactions can be reversed or cancelled. There are currently almost no remedies for these negative occurrences. What happens in blockchain stays in blockchain.

A Wild West

Investors are at risk of losing money in all occurrences, especially when operating in unregulated channels. Since cryptocurrencies are not currently regulated by government entities or banks, this risk exists when investing in cryptocurrencies. The concern over various legal statuses is one major hurdle in the path of international investors more actively participating in cryptocurrency investments. While they haven’t been declared illegal, cryptocurrencies are not recognized by most central banks or institutional investors. Since cryptocurrencies and ICOs are not currently treated as securities by the SEC in the United States, many price manipulation groups (aka. pump-and-dump groups) are technically “legal,” which often leads to more fear, hype and price volatility in the market.

Traditional investors have difficulty attaining exposure in this space. There are on-boarding challenges and a major lack of expertise with blockchain so average investors do not know which currency to buy or even how to access new ICO’s.

How to Invest in Blockchain without Buying Digital Currencies

The massive opportunity of blockchain currency is nearly matched by the confusion of where or how to invest. Blockchain technology powers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but there are many ways to invest in blockchain technology without investing directly into digital currencies. Blockchain penny stocks, venture investing, crowdfunding platforms and initial coin offerings (ICOs) offer that alternative.

Fortunately, investors don’t have to miss out on these profit opportunities. There is now a unique investment opportunity to add cryptocurrencies and other new blockchain technologies to any existing brokerage accounts, IRA or 401K’s. While Wall Street attempts to thwart the growth of cryptocurrencies, one company trading in Canada is surging into cryptocurrencies, and Americans have the opportunity to join this crypto-party.

Global Blockchain Technologies Group is creating the first vertically integrated originator and manager of top tier blockchains and cryptocurrencies. Global Blockchain is an investment company providing investors access to a diverse basket of holdings within the blockchain space, managed by an expert team made up of industry pioneers. Global Blockchain is streamlining the arduous, lengthy and complicated process that investors must undergo to gain exposure and expertise to just one digital currency, let alone multiple. They do this by offering one individual security that provides diversified holdings and one world class team that can be accessed through an online brokerage account. In other words, Global Blockchain enables investors to access a basket of cryptocurrency holdings, balanced between blue chip cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum), smaller cap cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency mining divisions and new blockchain technologies that are deemed to have significant upward potential.

Cryptocurrency Mining Division

Blockchain Global is creating the first ever cryptocurrency streaming company in the world, CoinStream Mining Corp., 49% of which has been acquired by Global Blockchain Mining Corp., a subsidiary of Global Blockchain Technologies Corp. The facility, located in a low electricity rate jurisdiction of Manitoba, Canada, has aggregated 10 megawatts of power and high-quality cryptocurrency mining assets. According to the initial agreement, an upfront payment of US $10M from CoinStream Corp. will be delivered in exchanged for 2,500 BTC per year for 5 years at US $1,000 per coin. Over the life of the contracts, the company would receive 12,500 BTC in total, which represents a current undiscounted value of approximately US $82,725,000 at the price of BTC at the time of writing.

Basket of Blue-chip and Small-cap Holdings

Global Blockchain plans to invest in a basket of holdings within the blockchain space, making it the first-ever global investment company with maximum exposure to the entire blockchain ecosystem, including start-up equity and token diversification. The strategy implemented by Global Blockchain diversifies investors’ exposure and reduces the risk by balancing large cap blue-chip holdings (such as BTC and ETH) with specifically chosen high-growth potential small-caps. In addition, Blockchain Global also plans to diversify portfolios by balancing cryptocurrencies based on the pre-defined category.

The vision of Global Blockchain is much more than speculating on a basket of currencies. It is a technology company with massive potential, planning to build an investment portfolio based on the token economy. Global Blockchain expects that smart asset allocation has the potential to change this space entirely for the benefit of investors.

ICO Incubator

The Global Blockchain business model is diverse and more innovative than simply holding cryptocurrencies. Global Blockchain will assist blockchain startups to create additional value with its own incubator – Global Blockchain’s in-house token studio. Since new ICOs traditionally have one-dimensional teams that are great at developing but not executing, Global Blockchain will not only help new companies build, but also help maintain, brand and distribute their offerings. This nascent industry is hungry for this type of development lab, operated by a team with real world experience and backed by some of the world’s top blockchain programmers. Global Blockchain is positioned to become the blockchain powerhouse to help create the future of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies.