Most people will just say "there is no short or simple answer for this question" but in my opinion the answer is NO " hold on blockchain maximalists :) " because it's the "current" big thing and not the "next".
We are talking about a technology that is 10+ years old since first conceptualized by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and implemented in 2009 as the main component of Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
Let's go back in time as history reveals everything :
Jan 1983 witnessed the start of the internet as we know it "network of networks" as ARPANET adopted TCP/IP.
After only 7 years Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990 and the revolution of dot com just happened as a result of just creating a tool to facilitate the mass adoption of the technology and making it available to the mainstream with real use cases, let's see these milestones :
1993 : Bloomberg
1994 : Amazon
1995 : Yahoo (More than 450 companies by then)
1997 : SixDegrees "the 1st social network in our history"
1998 : Google
1999 : Blogger
2003 : Myspace
2004 : Facebook
2005 : YouTube
So What?
You will find a lot of similarities between the dot com bubble and the blockchain one in terms of denial, underestimation, resistance and timeline too, one main difference that is making it harder for the blockchain is that it started with a use case that want to revolutionize the financial system and take down the current world economic system "Bitcoin", creating enemies instead of friends :)
most people still can't differentiate between blockchain as a technology and crypto-currencies as a use case.
during the past 10 years and particularly the last 3 ones many changes have happened and we are now so close to witness the technology that is currently changing the world as we know it, let's have a look on these milestones :
2009 : Bitcoin.
2010 : Bitcoin Market & Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange launch.
2011 : ALT coins (Litecoin, Namecoin, swiftcoin etc..)
2012 : Ripple (OpenCoin) - Wordpress.com starts accepting Bitcoin.
2013 : China bans its banks from trading Bitcoin.
2014 : R3 (consortium) Launched.
2015 : Ethereum (Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform)
2016 : Google joins IBM, Amazon and Microsoft in testing blockchain services with clients.
2017 :
- Bitcoin is recognized as legal currency in Japan.
- European banks band together to form the Digital Trade Chain, offering businesses trade finance on the blockchain.
- The WFP (World Food Programme) successfully runs an experiment to serve 100,000 Syrian refugees using blockchain technology.
- Bitcoin’s price reaches an all-time-high of almost $20,000.
- Bitcoin futures contracts to be offered by CME Group Inc. and Cboe Futures Exchange to mainstream investors.
2018 :
- The US state of Arizona accepts taxes in bitcoin.
- Switzerland begins accepting taxes in bitcoin.
- Santander partners with Ripple to offer customers next-day international transfers. It’s the first UK bank to use blockchain technology.
- According to Forbes.com, nearly 15% of finance companies are using blockchain today.
- NYSE-Linked Bitcoin Exchange Bakkt launched.
2019 :
- Samsung Unveils Cryptocurrency Wallet, Dapps for Galaxy S10 Phone.
- Samsung is Developing Ethereum-Based Blockchain.
- Jaguar Land Rover to Offer IOTA Rewards.
as you can see the sentiment is converted in the last 3 years and we are entering a new phase of adaption and real use cases with support from the big players in all industries.
let's check who is in "prepare for impact :) " :
Enterprise Ethereum Alliance :
Accenture, AMD, Santander Bank, BBVA, CME Group, Cisco, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Fujitsu, Hyperledger, Intel, JP Morgan Chase, Kaspersky Lab, Microsoft, National Bank of Canada, Pfizer, Rutgers University, T-Mobile and you can check the full list from Here : https://entethalliance.org/members/
Ripple customers & Partners :
Check the full list from Here : https://ripple.com/ripplenet/
R3 (Corda platform) :
Check the full list from Here : http://marketplace.r3.com/directory?referrer=featured-partners
Hyperledger :
Check the full list from Here : https://www.hyperledger.org/members
We can go further and deeper but i'm sure by now you discovered how big and how important is blockchain.
The below table shows the number of blockchain related jobs offered around the globe, by employer. "Good indicator"
Oh Facebook is trying to keep up :)
We have many unique blockchains with different focus points and use cases and we have many players who are trying to push things forwards and pave the way for them by enhancing the scalability, security, privacy and interoperability.
Let's finish by mentioning my favorite list of 2019 :
- Ethereum "still the king"
- Ripple "till the collapse of the current banking system"
- Cardano "Promising"
- Polkadot "Solid"
- BAT (Brave Browser : https://brave.com/the045) "Real use case and solve a real problem in digital advertising"
- Cosmos
- IOTA
- Stellar
- Zcash
- Bitcoin "still not dead"
Disclaimer : don't make any financial decision based on the information or recommendations provided here.
Sources & Credit :
https://medium.com/coinmonks/a-brief-history-of-blockchain-70c519d3053
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_founded_before_1995
https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/03/08/blockchain-jobs-glassdoor-employment/
Feel free to leave your comments and let me know your opinion, is it the next big thing?