Another article for the CryptoCurrency/Blockchain series....

Blockchain technology is taking the world by storm, disrupting virtually every industry known to man. New cryptocurrencies pop up every day and this blockchain movement would help millennials to achieve everyday tasks easily.

Quick question, have you ever stopped to think about how blockchain (or even cryptocurrency) would be of help to millennials?

The Advent of Millennials

Millennials, also known as Generation Y have a widely accepted birth year between 1981 and 1996 which means a millennial would be aged between 24 and 39 in this year, 2020. Millennials are the largest living generation in the US as of 2019, totaling 72.1 million,

Brief History of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

Following the global stock markets crash in 2008 which caused an economic downturn, Nakamoto Satoshi created blockchain as a backbone for the first cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Blockchain allows seamless transactions to be carried out between multiple parties and recorded efficiently in a transparent and immutable manner. Blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that securely stores digital information across several nodes (i.e., locations), thereby reducing the risks of unauthorized access.

Dubbed a "peer-to-peer electronic cash system" by Nakamoto, Bitcoin pioneered the blockchain revolution when it was used as its transaction ledger. Although it was the first cryptocurrency built on the blockchain, blockchain powers virtually all cryptocurrencies today. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), global capital investment in blockchain solutions is projected to reach $11.7 billion in 2022.

Millennials and Centralized Financial System

Millennials are widely known for experiencing some great occurrences, one of which is the great recession of 2008 which they experienced as teenagers and young adults. Many millennials entered the workforce facing the peak of the global financial crisis which impacted financial prospects in the following years. Their coming of age at such a time influenced their education, early career, life choices, and entrance to adulthood in a way different from both their predecessors and successors.

Millennials do not trust banks as most millennials believe that the centralized financial system schemes in a way that favors the rich. During the period of the financial meltdown and afterward, many people struggled to meet their basic needs while bank executives acquired record earnings and bonuses.

Why Millennials Need Blockchain

According to Wikipedia, millennials are characterized by elevated usage of and familiarity with the Internet, mobile devices, and social media, which is why they are sometimes termed, digital natives.

Millennials, a digital generation grew up in the days of the common use of the internet, personal computers, and cellphones and as a result of this, they are obsessed with technology. Millennials are adapting rapidly to the technological advancement of the world receptive to new ideas and ways of living. They prefer paying by digital wallets and online banking to traditional financial institutions, so digital currencies appear more natural to them. Millennials are currently reshaping business models and will continue to dictate trends across every industry. They have a great impact on future transactions and as they tend to lead the world on a new path where people would not need traditional financial institutions, blockchain and cryptocurrencies are the way.

Another reason millennials distrust the centralized financial system is that they worry about their personal information being exploited. In recent years, we've seen numerous tech startups accused of violating user privacy and even the Cambridge-Analytica scandal that rocked Facebook sometime in 2019. Blockchain brings trust, accountability, and transparency to digital transactions.