There have been numerous news articles published on the concept of decentralized governance, with BitNation taking the lead and confronting existing government institutions by offering a decentralized way of handling such services. Some of these services include birth and marriage certificates, land ownership, and business certifications. Services that at times can cost a substantial amount of money and require a lengthy process that can be subject to heavy bureaucracy. With this in mind, you can imagine the impact services such as BitNation can have on individuals who want ways to overcome boundaries and free themselves from the limitations created by centralized authorities.
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While this idea is not yet fully realized or demonstrated to the masses, it found its way into a conversation between a Uber driver and a passenger within London. Perhaps this is a way of demonstrating that people are listening and searching for better ways of handling day to day services, in support of decentralization and reduced regulations. Eric Grill, founder and CEO of the Bitcoin ATM company CoinOutlet Inc, was recently taking part in a Uber ride within the city of London. It is here that a great conversation started, revolving around regulations and the time it takes a driver to obtain a taxi license within London. An example of such regulations and bureaucracy was highlighted in an article published by the New York Times, where a similar story is mentioned “Over three years, Matt McCabe logged more than 50,000 miles on motorbike and foot within the city, the equivalent of two circumnavigations of the Earth, while studying to become a London taxi driver.” To his surprise, the taxi driver then mentioned the decentralized governance platform: BitNation, founded by Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof. As mentioned by Eric:
“Then he started talking about regulation in general and how there was this thing called BitNation run by this really smart woman who is going to change that. He wants a passport from them to become a world citizen. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, especially since I had just been talking to Susanne earlier that day.”
Eric is a Bitcoin advocate who — previous to hearing about Bitcoin — worked on building an API for Drones and working in Real Estate. After a friend had told him about the potential behind this incredible technology he read the whitepaper, that is when everything changed:
“a lightbulb went off – Ive been a software dev my whole life, that is when I dropped everything and said that if it wasn’t bitcoin related I didn’t want to hear about it.”
Eric has also put Coin Outlet ATMs to other uses by utilizing BitNation’s services to register a wedding on the blockchain without the government being involved. One that anyone could verify rather than going to a courthouse and waiting. It is worth mentioning that these services could expand to passports and other identity-based registrations. 
This story portrays the positive influence decentralization has over the globe for people that are looking for ways to do things better and more efficiently while maintaining control, security and privacy. Perhaps in time we can see more people involved with the services and spreading the good the positive aspects of such technologies and their impact on our lives. As mentioned, a taxi driver has to face such heavy regulations and bureaucracy when looking to provide people with a ride. Now, imagine such a service designed around the blockchain technology and an online identity, one where your reputation could be calculated based on your previous rides and user experiences topped with their satisfaction and input. A P2P world where you can become a taxi driver with the right experience without having to face the existing boundaries and regulations. Eric mentioned a similar thought by saying:
“I think once people see alternative ways of doing things they will question the way things are done.”
One can hope to see more examples of such progress throughout the world, especially in places where existing local governing authorities have neglected the people. BitNation is a great example of using the blockchain technology to ease and secure the lives of such people while introducing an innovative method of performing tasks that could lead to making the existing system obsolete.
If you have had a similar experience please share your comments below.
Images courtesy of: BitNation
Photo by: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg