text: As I was getting ready to write today, I chanced upon a news clipping that said that the government was holding a critical meeting on bitcoin and blockchain-related scams that have been circulating recently.
  On one side there is the crypto community which swears by the technology. On the other side are regulators who fear that such evolving technology and paradigm shifts in managing financial transactions are ideal breeding grounds for money laundering.
  In the middle are the rest of us, who swing between the FOMO (fear of missing out) and skepticism.
  The issue is that unlike other technologies, blockchain aims to make a fundamental change in the financial system. It’s more like what one would have felt as one went from the barter system, to exchange of money. Of course, it has applications across the board – property transactions, verifications, hiring, art – you name it. Not many people understand that though. Their idea of blockchain is limited to Bitcoin – and obscene financial gains.
  Any subject needs devotion of time and effort, in order to be well understood. Our educational system is made in a way that we pass with high marks, but are not able to get into too much depth. As you go through your career however, the opposite holds. There are no marks to achieve, only in-depth understanding. And so we have to undo all those years of education, in order to make good inroads.
  The only ones who will thrive in these times of rapidly-changing technology, are the ones who can learn, and unlearn, continuously, every two to three years.
  Anyways, so the question remains. Is this technology to be feared, embraced or ignored?
  Only time will tell. But in the meanwhile, keep abreast and learn more about it. You don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of the fence, when it comes down to it.