“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott

Investing in a nutshell is increasing your finances by putting your money into financial products. It seems simple enough but there’s so much that can go wrong. The stock market is one example of putting all your eggs in one basket. It can make you a millionaire overnight or go in completely the other direction. You can invest in many ways. This can be adding to your bank account for a rainy day or helping to purchase a house. You can also invest in bonds or money market accounts to name a few other services. If the share price increases, so will your investment and bank account. Letting it stew in your current account is illogical, when you can watch it rise from a smart financial choice. If you plan ahead and just take a little to the side for future plans like retirement, a fund for your children’s university education or a holiday, it can prove beneficial.

In the current landscape, the traditional way to invest is to head to your local branch. In the age of digital, you don’t even have to leave the house. A simple set up online can provide you with an account where you can add a little or a lot each month. In turn, that will give a nice interest to put towards your goals and ambitious plans. Alternatively, you’ll be able to add to bonds or stocks, which offers more risk but greater rewards at the end of the rainbow. Providing you’re smart with your budgeting and method, it can give you an ideal platform to build. Although this has been the tried and tested way for years, there’s drawbacks to the traditional protocol.

Banking and financial investment typically involves a third-party or intermediary. With this, it requires a great deal of trust that can be problematic. You are over reliant on human error or negligence which can cost you long-term. Also, it’s a slow process that’s less secure. Efficiency and transparency with payments and transactions are essential in the financial world. Money laundering and cyber security are key issues that need addressing for financial investment to progress. Tracking and managing payments of goods and services also needs to improve so we can evolve in a world that’s increasingly digitalised. The answer to these issues – Blockchain. 

This technology could be a game changer in the industry. Able to manage multiple financial assets with ease, each block is secured by cryptography to make vital data immutable. Therefore, it can be viewed by a larger network of trusted individuals (which is handy with large or international payments) . Assets can also be stored, moved and traded within seconds. Knowing your investment is secure and incorruptible or unlikely to get hacked by an outside source is so valuable in the modern world. Technology has advanced, meaning financial security is trickier then ever to maintain, but Blockchain could provide the solution. Connection and communication on a smarter network are of paramount importance for financial investment to evolve. Problems like high transaction costs and currency issues can also be corrected with Blockchain.

As this exciting technology grows and receives wider global attention, more and more projects will pop up to stimulate and educate the world about Blockchain. Finance is one of the first areas that it can truly benefit. As well as finance; healthcare, education, government procedures and the environment can also reap the rewards. When it is correctly regulated and monitored by government entities, its progression will sky rocket. Powerful nations such as China, the United States and the U.K are already aware of its potential. When applications like Alacrity enter the ring, there will be no stopping its trajectory. Alacrity works on a decentralised network of ownership and trust, empowering user data by providing a platform to protect and secure data, transfer data between unlimited external sources and charge nothing for transactions. In the financial world, all of these are huge bonuses that save time and money. 

-->