As I mentioned in my introduction, I am a fan of Blockchain technology so I guess it is fitting that it be my first topic. I suppose the best way to do that is to discuss how I personally discovered the tech, and my opinion on what it will bring us in the future.
It was Bitcoin that brought my attention to the Blockchain. I read an article in a magazine (I think it was Wired) that first intrigued me about the tech. When first reading it, I figured it was a lot like what Andreas Antonopoulos first thought, nerd money. Since I was an avid WoW player along with other games, I thought of it more of an internet gaming thing that I didn’t fully understand. I was interested because I made online purchases for game gold, but it wasn’t until I did more research a couple months later after seeing the name Bitcoin again that I really began to understand what it could do for true sovereign money as well as other applications that require a central entity. So I bought some Bitcoin. How could I possible know that Bitcoin would soon make its most epic move past $1000. I was hooked! I played with Alt’s for a little while making and losing most of my Bitcoins, learning big lessons along the way. In the end, my interest for Bitcoin for financial gain was outweighed by the underlying technology…the Blockchain.
Soon I began to think how Blockchain tech would impact us 10 years, 50 years, even 100 years from now. I have come to the conclusion that by the time the last Bitcoin is mined in 2140, Blockchain tech will have infiltrated our entire lives. Every interaction you make with the world will be automatically recorded in some form of Blockchain tech. We are already seeing the impact it’s having on financial transactions with Bitcoin. Imagine what that peer-to-peer technology will look like when it is your government, your identity, in essence your integrity all integrated into an open ledger for anyone and everyone to see. It sounds intrusive and unrealistic, but think about what we had 100 years ago compared to what we have today and it may change your mind.
Let’s take barter as an example. We have evolved the way we transact with each other over time, from hard to find items as a medium of exchange to worthless pieces of trust paper. We will soon find ourselves in a situation where our trust paper will no longer be trust paper, but toilet paper. This type of scenario is perfect for Blockchain integration to the majority of society. Instead of having a single controlled currency like the dollar, what if you had many currencies from different establishments, sort of like reward points or a gift card. You could easily buy and sell these currencies from a single world exchange instantly. This will give businesses an avenue of advertisement of their goods. McDonalds, as an example, could offer $10 worth of “McTokens” for only $5 worth of your Burger King “King Coins” as a way of taking business from their competitor, but at the same time making prices cheaper for everyone. You would easily be carrying hundreds of different opportunities on your mobile device. Businesses could sway people in trade, enriching the customers. This is just one example of mass barter that we may see in the future.
Although there are many avenues of use for Blockchain, it is still in its infancy. Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever they may be, certainly opened Pandora’s Box. I am excited to see what tech Blockchain will bring us that nobody has even though of yet. As more and more ideas come to fruition and eventually become reality, we will start to compile layers of Blockchain revolutions that will inevitably guide us to a more advanced and better future.
The Ordinary Sapien
I leave you with these questions:
Will mankind’s social and political evolution require complete transparency?
How many different types of Blockchain currencies will we be using in the near future?