Chris DeRose

The ability to program value exchanges without risk of censorship, moderation or theft gives smart contracts a leg up in servicing users who lack a mainstream banking association.

As far as digital currency has come, the passing of bitcoin for purchases is still a relatively primitive transaction.

Bitcoin may have had the most successful marketing campaign of any web technology in recent years. But now there’s a new buzzword making waves throughout the financial industry: “distributed ledger.”

While the blockchain will doubtless offer some amazing innovations, much of the hype has focused on obtuse applications in existing markets rather than an exploration of how the technology will be used to create entirely new markets. There are big changes that are being pursued by the best and most ambitious minds in the financial technology and payments industries.