5 Blockchain Trends Everyone Should Know About | Forbes

More Investment Opportunities

Not just in quirky, unknown cryptocurrencies with unproven use cases – blockchain technology makes it possible to offer and track investments in a whole range of asset classes that traditionally have been the preserve of institutional investors and the wealthy.

For example, tokenization lowers the bar to entry for investment in property, potentially allowing more liquid trading of high-value assets and allowing more of us a slice of the pie of the growth (or losses) they can generate. Regulation will be needed before these investment opportunities will be considered safe enough for everyday investors to take part, and as we’ve seen over the last year, this certainly seems to be on its way.

Art, fine wines and property are all examples of investment assets that traditionally were only an option for well-off investors with the luxury of being able to put capital in up-front and be in no hurry for their investment to pay off. With regulation in place, everyday investors can purchase digitally-backed “shares” in these asset classes and sell them off when they need to liquidate their funds.

Additionally, blockchain-based “smart contracts” are designed to reduce the reliance on middlemen such as brokers and lawyers when establishing these transactions, further lowering the costs and barriers to entry.

Source: 5 Blockchain Trends Everyone Should Know About, Bernard Marr, January 28, 2019