Corruption is destructive to any society where it is present. That is a given. Most people are beginning to understand that corruption in general is more widespread than they imagined. The question is, what if anything can be done about it?
By definition, corruption is abuse of power for personal gain. Because it originates from a position of power, it is difficult to dislodge once it has become entrenched. An outside force greater than the entrenched power system must emerge before any meaningful reform can occur.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and the Free Market.
These two forces may hold the key. The forces of the free market have proven over time to be quite formidable. Even with the full force of dictatorial governments, socialism always eventually collapses (Venezuela), or moves toward free market capitalism (China).
Enter DLT. This technology, gleaned from the structure of the Bitcoin blockchain, is being used to structure payment and audit trails that create a natural barrier to corruption. In a recent article, Chris Skinner made the following observation.
“I’ve thought to myself that anyplace where there is the possibility of fraud and corruption – money laundering, investing in sharia-compliant products, moving funds offshore, giving to charities, paying taxes, managing government funds and more – could be assisted by DLT. It could provide a fully transparent, tamperproof view of who paid what to whom. Brilliant.”
Yes. Brilliant.
Payment systems and smart contracts are just the beginning. When DLT technology matures, it will also assist with monetary reform. Then, gold and silver, DLT, and free market forces will join together to help remedy the widespread systemic corruption that is being exposed today. That is something we can all get excited about.
Also, see our article on how Africa is leading the way on the implementation of new payment systems.