From providing financial services access to the unbanked to helping solve counterfeit medicine, humanitarian blockchain efforts can help save lives around the world

In the height of the cryptocurrency craze there are numerous companies applying blockchain technology to solve some of the world’s most serious issues. The movement has gained the attention of the United Nations, who partnered with Fordham University in 2017 to create the Humanitarian Blockchain Summit.

In theory, many blockchain-based technologies could be utilized to solve humanitarian issues, but very few companies set out to make this part of their core mission statement. From providing financial services access to the unbanked to helping solve counterfeit medicine, humanitarian blockchain efforts can help save lives around the world.

During the past few months, I have taken a personal interest in this sector and have sought out to cover and work with promising startups that have a more social element to their commercial dealings. Not only was I thoroughly surprised with the global nature of these companies, but these are real working solutions that could impact many lives as soon as 2018.

In full disclosure, have had a working or personal relationship with each company listed. This has given me not only the insight into each model, but an appreciation for what each company is looking to solve.

1. FarmaTrust

According to the World Health Organization, Asia makes up the largest share of counterfeit medications in the world. The issue is so rampant that in 2009 officials seized over 20 million pills from one ring in China and Southeast Asia alone. Globally, the counterfeit drug trade is considered to be a multi-billion-dollar market.

FarmaTrust, an innovative blockchain startup is looking to solve this problem by offering both commercial and social solutions to track the pharmaceutical supply chain industry. Their global tracking system is tech neutral, regulatory neutral, and plugs into existing ERPs in the developing world. This means regulators, NGOs, pharma companies, and even private companies can use FarmaTrust to create safer and trustless pharmaceutical supply chains.

The implications of this would be drastic. Millions of lives could be saved by eliminating corruption in the black market, creating safer e-commerce experiences for online drug purchases, and stopping counterfeit medication in its entirety.

Also read: Decentralised ledgers for crypto-wellness? This is how blockchain can transform healthcare

2. ExsulCoin

It was recently reported that Southeast Asia’s Rohingya Refugee Crisis recently reached a peak of 420,000 displaced refugees fleeing violence in Burma. As the violence has spread, ExsulCoin has been on the ground on the border of Burma and Bangladesh helping refugees and testing their new blockchain platform.

In essence, ExsulCoin is using their cryptocurrency to pay people to learn and verify all education across refugee camps using an immutable ledger. The goal is to train refugees to be able to properly integrate into their new communities and find work opportunities. Students will be identified, verified, and paid in tokens which can later be converted to local money using a debit card.

To avoid any external corruption, a rating system will be implemented to match donors with refugees with a high-degree of accuracy that the person receiving the donation is in fact the intended recipient. This could mean prosperity for millions of refugees around the world when they need it the most.

3. UBIQUICOIN

Just three years ago, 2.5 billion adults around the world were still unbanked. While that figure has been improving recently, the problem of access to financial services is still a major problem in the developing world. UBIQUICOIN is looking to bridge the gap between the first and the third world by offering a transaction focused cryptocurrency to provide equality and financial empowerment across the board.

Also read: Fintech could help banks save costs but also erode their income, says Singapore’s central bank

UBIQUICOIN’s aspiration to create a new global economy will not be dependent on nationality, income, or location. What it will offer is a two-coin structure that will help limit volatility and act as an investment vehicle if desired. Additionally, this ecosystem will include 10 interconnected service sets on private blockchains to fuel social banks, micro loans, and investment pools.

The result of successfully deploying a project of this magnitude could have a massive impact around the world, helping provide access and opportunity to a wide range of financial services that are more stable and secure.

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