As the values of the crypts begin to emerge from the depression that began in February, once again, a great deal of interest in the altcoins is emerging and, in doing so, could challenge Bitcoin as a leader in the cryptographic space.
Although the recent fall in prices may have worried traders and investors, the development of blockchain and crypto has advanced at full steam. Many platforms are beginning to demonstrate the true potential of blockchain, and have begun to move towards general use outside the financial focus.
A key point of the current environment is that the most important progress in the blockchain revolution is not related to fiduciary value, or even to cryptocurrencies.
Many of the most innovative platforms are not designed to be virtual currencies, and despite seeing increasing value, they are distancing themselves from the concept. These systems are laying the foundations for a very different future, where wealth can be defined in many ways.
One such platform is IOTA , which has made a series of important movements in recent weeks. These include agreements with the main corporations, as well as the first official information on the long-awaited "Project Q", which will allow IOTA to have features such as intelligent contracts and distributed computing.
IOTA has also become a founding member of the "Open Blockchain Mobility Initiative" (MOBI), which aims to bring blockchain to transport and includes many of the world's leading automotive companies.
Iota's progress reflects the philosophy of a development team that is more interested in technical progress and adoption rates than market value. Unlike blockchain platforms such as Bitcoin, IOTA is not designed to function as direct cryptography.
IOTA aims at the economy of the "Internet of Things", and seeks to be the medium that interconnects these devices. Although the IOTA chips definitely have value, once fully implemented, most IOTA transactions will be made between machines, and they promise to make the world a much more efficient place.
Blockchain applications are also being transferred to a series of media that have traditionally been centralized and, to a large extent, inefficient. Follow My Vote , for example, is developing a voting platform based on a chain of blocks that promises to make online secure voting a reality.
Another is Medicalchain , which is creating a method to store medical records through blockchain.
In fact, there are hundreds of projects underway to bring distributed accounting technology to all aspects of the modern world. Although there is no doubt that many development teams are motivated by the pursuit of profits, in general they do not claim that their creations are crypts adopted en masse. Their value will come from the improvement they make within their given industry, not through trade in the open market.
This diverse group of platforms are evidence that the blockchain revolution is going to be much more complex than a simple step to digital assets. It is well known that Bitcoin is currently the flagship crypto currency, not because it is the most useful or advanced, but rather because it was the first of its kind.
These new blockchain platforms serve much more complex and functional purposes, and promise to blur the lines between what is and what is not a true cryptocurrency. Many, like IOTA, are not even blockchain-based, and share little with Bitcoin outside of decentralization.
Therefore, despite the fact that these platforms have value, they are best viewed not as cryptocurrencies, but as a new asset class. The means by which they will be marketed and used is still to be defined.
What stands out, however, is that the true genius of blockchain technology does not rest on the creation of crypts like Bitcoin. Rather, blockchain is a highly innovative technology, and cryptocurrencies are just one of its multiple aspects.