Meanwhile, Dubai wants to put government documents on blockchain by 2020 thus making interactions between citizens and government a lot simpler. Dubai’s effort is especially ambitious because it includes almost every aspect of government in which citizens participate.
Because blockchain provides indelible records, users in Dubai will not need to provide paper records on an ongoing basis. Even passports may be handled electronically henceforth. The idea is to give people the ability to approach Dubai in a paperless fashion.
This will make things more efficient but there is a downside to having so much information available. People generally may not wish for Dubai to know so much about their affairs. And there may be suspicions that Dubai will share information regardless of individual preference.
That goes for government generally. In fact, one of the attractions of bitcoin is its anonymity, and this will be reduced once governments impose anti-money laundering and terrorist regulation.
Damping Bitcoin
Many governments and large banks are not especially enamored of bitcoin to begin with. So damping its processes is seen as secondary to bringing it under supervision. Perhaps bitcoin will evolve in ways that are not in sync with government, but that is not a current reality.
Putting blockchain to work in bureaucratic environments is a good idea, but reducing private blockchain and cryptocurrency for money laundering reasons will lower acceptance of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Perhaps, bitcoin will stop growing so quickly as a result, or even stop growing entirely. Other cryptocurrencies, too, will grow more slowly if they are enmeshed in the creation of identity docs.
It is an issue that will need further discussion rather than a blanket imposition of rules. If those rules are forthcoming without such conversations, cybercurrencies may become more involved in gray or black markets. That may be a significant loss.
David Murry is a journalist working on both blockchain and cybercurrency issuance and is the author of a recently published book, Blockchain Disruption: How a Decentralized and Distributed World Expands Freedom.