From Greg Wilson, research analyst, The Palm Beach Letter: The “blockchain” today is like the internet in the early 1990s… and the investment implications are just as enormous.

[The blockchain is a decentralized, digital ledger. Its decentralized nature has made it impossible to “hack”… since no one is able to alter the ledger in all the places it resides at the same time.]

The internet changed the way we record and exchange information. It made the flow of communication across the world faster and more efficient.

Trillions in value were created.

Likewise, the blockchain is changing the way we record and exchange value. It will make transactions across the world faster and more efficient.

Trillions in value will be created.

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Yet, it’s so early in the game, many people still don’t even know about the blockchain… or how they can profit from it. And that’s creating wide-open opportunities for those in the know…

Remember, the internet was the same in its infancy. Many investors didn’t see its significance—or even know it existed—in the beginning. Then web browsers came along and the internet was quickly on its way to mass adoption. Early investors made fortunes.

Today, the blockchain is starting to gain traction. Eventually, these online distributed databases will be as ubiquitous as the World Wide Web. And a new group of early investors will get rich like those at the start of the Internet Age.

A Decentralized Database

The blockchain is maintained by thousands of independent computers. These computers are constantly “talking” to each other to ensure the ledger is always valid.

By storing data across its network, the blockchain eliminates the risk that comes with information being held in a central location.

This “decentralized” network is much more secure than databases with central supervision. (For example, it’s more efficient for hackers to try and break into one central site holding millions in assets than millions of individual computers holding hundreds or thousands.)

The blockchain is also faster, more secure, and more efficient than centralized networks. That makes it the perfect technology on which to reinvent the financial system… and the trillions of dollars that move around it daily.

A New Network of Value

Here are eight ways the blockchain will forever change how we use money:

  1. Verifying: The blockchain will eliminate the need for you to pay an intermediary (like a notary) to verify transactions.

  2. Transferring: The blockchain will make it easier for you to make payments, transfer money, or buy and sell goods. You’ll move your money faster and cheaper with the blockchain than with traditional wire services like Western Union or MoneyGram.

  3. Storing: The blockchain will let you store money digitally instead of using a bank, money market fund, or government security. It could potentially make checking and savings accounts obsolete.

  4. Lending: You will be able to make, secure, settle, and trade loans on the blockchain faster and easier than today.

  5. Exchanging: Every day, trillions of dollars in financial assets are traded between parties. The blockchain can cut settlement times from weeks and days to minutes and seconds.

  6. Funding: Raising money now requires third parties such as investment bankers, venture capitalists, and lawyers, among others. The blockchain will automate this process and eliminate the need for third parties. More people will have access to capital than ever before.

  7. Insuring: The blockchain supports decentralized models for insurance that can make risk management more efficient. This will lower premiums overall.

  8. Accounting: The blockchain makes bookkeeping virtually automatic and instantaneous… while keeping it 100% transparent.

As you can see, the blockchain will revolutionize how you use money. But what folks don’t know is that the blockchain’s impact will extend well beyond finance.

In tomorrow’s Daily, I’ll show you five areas outside of finance that will be changed by the blockchain… and some of the companies that are making it happen.

In the meantime, current Palm Beach Letter subscribers can take a deeper dive into the blockchain through our special report, right here.

Reeves’ Note: Greg and PBL editor Teeka Tiwari have researched hundreds of blockchain technologies and their associated “cryptocurrencies.” Recently, they uncovered one that some call “a blockchain for everything.”

Corporate titans IBM, Microsoft, Samsung, and 11 major banks are committing billions to the new technology. And 31 more banks and the Toronto Stock Exchange are looking into it right now…