Companies that have adopted decentralized business models may be better able to respond to the emergency caused by Covid-19.
Several countries around the world, Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, to name but a few, have had to resort to drastic measures to contain Coronavirus contagion. In many cases, these measures included the so-called lockdown: shutting down anything that was not essential to the lives of citizens. This led shops to close their doors and offices to be empty, just like the cities where they are located.
For many companies, it was necessary to resort to smart working, which consists of working remotely. Even the public administration was obliged to do so.
In this drastic scenario, companies that had already decentralized their productivity have struggled less to cope with this change. After all, they were already used to having to deal with the distance between employees, a reduced distance thanks to new technologies and communication tools. These are companies that have exploited the power of the web and cloud services to the fullest.
In the cryptocurrency world, a company that is fully pursuing the idea, the project and the structure of a decentralized business is definitely Bitfinex. In recent days, the exchange has made it clear that it was facing the pandemic without having to reduce its workforce: by adopting a decentralized model, its Coronavirus challenge was based on continuing to offer the same services, relying on smart working.
However, even before this, Bitfinex employed specialists all over the world. For this reason, the exchange has reported that the Coronavirus has had a minimal impact on the services Bitfinex continues to offer its customers. A pioneer in smart working, Bitfinex has been able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a decentralized world. Although it faced other types of problems, such as the sudden collapse of markets that threatened to undermine confidence in the cryptocurrency world.
Covid-19 and decentralized businesses, a global challenge
After all, Covid-19 is also a challenge for businesses. For many companies, working during a pandemic emergency could only continue in “smart” mode. Which does not mean that everything is decentralized, without a guide, a control room or a chain of command. Simply, each employee is more responsible for carrying out their tasks away from the eyes of their superiors. If everything is performed well, the results will be evident. If not, the end product will suffer. A bit like on a blockchain.
And maybe decentralized working will seem like an alternative to the worst-case scenario: layoffs. There is no doubt that the forced closure of many activities that do not have the characteristics to be “smart” or that have not been able to adapt, will result in the loss of thousands of jobs.
The nation-states are called upon to deal with the emergency in two ways: to assist those who will lose their jobs, and to encourage companies and public administrations to adopt different business models. Decentralized ones can be the solution.
When the health emergency is over, it will be impossible to go back. New models are emerging and their practicality will be evident even to the most sceptical. There are those who say that there will be a pre and post Coronavirus world: even for companies, the pandemic has been a dividing line.
