Three Innovative Use Cases that Highlight its Potential
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 3:42 am
Innovative Use Cases for Blockchain in Social Impact
A 2018 report from the Stanford Center for Social Innovation identified 193 organizations, initiatives and projects that were leveraging blockchain technology specifically for social good. This work could have direct implications in the global impact investing market, as these projects continue to scale and become more investable over time. Beyond the investment opportunities presented by blockchain-driven businesses, the technology can also help facilitate the investment process itself. Below, I will discuss three fascinating blockchain-based initiatives: one that illustrates how the technology can be used to address a common challenge japan whatsapp number data in emerging markets, and two that showcase the innovation that blockchain can bring to impact investing.
ConsenSys Ventures is a venture capital arm of the blockchain technology firm ConsenSys, which aims to help entrepreneurs in the blockchain space scale their businesses. They are operating a project with NITI Aayog, a government-partnered public policy think tank in India, which leverages ConsenSys’ technology to offer a streamlined platform for managing land ownership records. This service might not be needed in the Global West, but in certain areas of India, land ownership records can be tampered with by simply bribing a government official. Because the ConsenSys platform is built on blockchain, land ownership records can be securely stored on a network that is both trustworthy and tamper-proof; this is because the data is incorruptible once entered and verified, meaning that users would not be able to bribe officials into making changes. The record-keeping and transparency features of the blockchain network would allow users to view historic ownership and taxation records, with all records being time-stamped and reliable.
Pan-Impact Korea is an impact investing advisory company that has introduced a social impact bond (SIB) that utilizes blockchain technology. SIBs are typically offered by governments to finance social projects, with payouts being contingent upon the achievement of predefined social outcomes. But unlike traditional bonds which are tradable, SIBs function more like private contracts. This lack of securitization and liquidity renders them unattractive investments, due to the difficulties investors face when trying to purchase or sell the SIBs. Using blockchain, Pan-Impact can more effectively securitize the SIBs (via the creation of blockchain tokens that serve as derivatives) and create a decentralized peer-to-peer ecosystem that allows for a functioning and liquid marketplace for these tokens (bonds). Investors can even trade and settle in traditional currencies; and with the tamper-proof blockchain infrastructure, they can track the performance of each SIB in real-time – and potentially the performance of the underlying impact targets as well. Both financial and impact data related to the SIB could be codified and stored on the network; the bond’s account history, transaction history, ownership records and performance could all become fully transparent and trustworthy.
A 2018 report from the Stanford Center for Social Innovation identified 193 organizations, initiatives and projects that were leveraging blockchain technology specifically for social good. This work could have direct implications in the global impact investing market, as these projects continue to scale and become more investable over time. Beyond the investment opportunities presented by blockchain-driven businesses, the technology can also help facilitate the investment process itself. Below, I will discuss three fascinating blockchain-based initiatives: one that illustrates how the technology can be used to address a common challenge japan whatsapp number data in emerging markets, and two that showcase the innovation that blockchain can bring to impact investing.
ConsenSys Ventures is a venture capital arm of the blockchain technology firm ConsenSys, which aims to help entrepreneurs in the blockchain space scale their businesses. They are operating a project with NITI Aayog, a government-partnered public policy think tank in India, which leverages ConsenSys’ technology to offer a streamlined platform for managing land ownership records. This service might not be needed in the Global West, but in certain areas of India, land ownership records can be tampered with by simply bribing a government official. Because the ConsenSys platform is built on blockchain, land ownership records can be securely stored on a network that is both trustworthy and tamper-proof; this is because the data is incorruptible once entered and verified, meaning that users would not be able to bribe officials into making changes. The record-keeping and transparency features of the blockchain network would allow users to view historic ownership and taxation records, with all records being time-stamped and reliable.
Pan-Impact Korea is an impact investing advisory company that has introduced a social impact bond (SIB) that utilizes blockchain technology. SIBs are typically offered by governments to finance social projects, with payouts being contingent upon the achievement of predefined social outcomes. But unlike traditional bonds which are tradable, SIBs function more like private contracts. This lack of securitization and liquidity renders them unattractive investments, due to the difficulties investors face when trying to purchase or sell the SIBs. Using blockchain, Pan-Impact can more effectively securitize the SIBs (via the creation of blockchain tokens that serve as derivatives) and create a decentralized peer-to-peer ecosystem that allows for a functioning and liquid marketplace for these tokens (bonds). Investors can even trade and settle in traditional currencies; and with the tamper-proof blockchain infrastructure, they can track the performance of each SIB in real-time – and potentially the performance of the underlying impact targets as well. Both financial and impact data related to the SIB could be codified and stored on the network; the bond’s account history, transaction history, ownership records and performance could all become fully transparent and trustworthy.