 Would you like to hear how blockchain is driving a bigger revolution, a revolution which we have never seen before? By simple definition, blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that allows data to be stored globally on thousands of servers, while letting anyone on the network see every once entry in near real time. That makes it difficult for one user to gain control of the network. There has been a surge of excitement regarding blockchain, with people speculating about its applications to a whole host of industries and depicting it as a panacea. Could blockchain solve one of our society's most pressing issues? That is social inequality? I say it can. Firstly, let's start by considering the social inequality of income distribution. Currently, the richest 1% of the world owns half of the world's wealth and over 80% of the world's assets. Take a second to let that statistic sink in. But it doesn't end there. Analysts at the House of Commons are predicting that if we don't act upon this zone, the top 1% will own 2 thirds of the world's wealth by 2030. Same being in a room with 100 people and one person owns almost 70% of the total wealth. Research analysts in the UK have attributed this vast disparity to the fact that the wealthy have invested a larger amount of their equity in businesses, stocks, and other financial assets, which have handed them disproportionate benefits. But it isn't just that the wealthy have invested more money into the financial assets, a large proportion of the globe simply isn't able to participate in such transactions at all. According to the World Bank, there are currently billion people on the planet without access to a bank account. Imagine how tough it would be to live without a bank account, saving, borrowing, starting a business, transferring money, or buying a property would be immensely difficult. However, blockchain may offer a solution. A big obstacle preventing people from signing up with a bank is the procedures involving the customer identification and verification of their sources of income. Anyone who is signed with a bank knows the tiresome process of onboarding and all the documents that are required to open an account. Therefore, many people, especially those living in rural areas, are discouraged from signing up as they either do not have these documents available or may not live in close proximity to a branch or find it too cumbersome to carry out this process. A simple solution to this could be that the customer information is shared through blockchain technology. This would store all the information about the person on an immutable chain, allowing for all transactions related to the person to be documented. When he or she wants to change to a different bank or open a new account, the bank can immediately gain access to the person's document through the ledger. And the customer doesn't need to be physically present. The benefits of blockchain go further. They can also address another major inequality, particularly affecting women. The gender pay gap. I think you will agree that there is a significant difference between what women and men are earning. Not only is this phenomenon psychologically damaging and demotivating to women, but according to recent reports from the World Bank, the gender pay gap caused the world over $160 trillion in earnings globally. Therefore, addressing this issue not only benefits women, but the entire population as a whole. So how can blockchain help? Well, one of the biggest issues with the gender pay gap and why it has been difficult to track this data is due to lack of transparency. How can you actually tell that a man and a woman are producing equal output yet have an imbalance in earnings? This is very difficult to calculate. Utilizing blockchain, companies would be able to see everyone's salary information in a clear and honest way. Such a system would provide the much needed transparency to payment schemes by indicating how much men and women are earning in relation to their performance, working hours, etc. This would lead to corporations to implement more fair salaries and make it easier for unfair pay to be noticed. Furthermore, in relation to my previous point about the people not having bank accounts, women are even less likely to have access to a bank account. Globally, 72% of the adult men have an account compared to 65% of women. Therefore, blockchain technology will especially play an important role for women as it will promote their empowerment by increasing their economic participation. I have only touched upon two of the main ways that blockchain can help reduce social inequality. First, improving financial inclusion of the society and second, reducing the gender pay gap that exists in our world. However, the benefits of blockchain go far beyond the points I have mentioned. It could even reduce corruption and improve ethnic diversity, which are the two other critical variables of social inequality. Even if implementing the blockchain technology within our regular infrastructures will take some time and resources, I strongly believe our society is ready for a more equitable world where everyone is rewarded fairly for their contribution. So what are your thoughts about this?