Share Transformations in production and connectivity are defining the ongoing fourth industrial revolution (4IR). But it is also defined by emerging trends in the decentralisation of financial transactions. The former are products of advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), 3D printing (additive manufacturing), 5G networks, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The latter is due to blockchain technology, which has come into mainstream attention in the past decade. Blockchain technology – perhaps known best in its cryptocurrency incarnation – is a system of recording information that allows for its storage and unchangeability. This system, also known as the decentralised ledger, is therefore useful in peer-to-peer payment, hence its application in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and hundreds of others that have come into the fore in the past several years. It has also gained traction as a method of ensuring the integrity of ballots in elections.