The Blockchain has seen a lot of development over it few years of existence. People are slowly awakening to the fact that the Blockchain is here to stay and it is not just some passing fad like Tulips
A brief research of the Internet will reveal to you that the Blockchain is not passing through a unique experience when it comes to its birth pangs. The Internet suffered everything that the Blockchain is suffering now, Government suppresion including the current suppression tool of taxation
Internet Tax which some of us can fail to relate with now was a thing in the 90's. Even banks did not support Internet payments at first. Those who wanted to make Internet payments in the early to mid 90's had to make use of gateways
Another thing that is prevalent in the Blockchain space is the prophesy that the Cryptocurrency market is heading towards a Bubble. This is a swipe from the Internet bubble that saw a lot of Web startups suffer a great deal.
The reason for the Internet crash was that the pace of adoption did not match the pace of developement. People saw the value of the Internet and took it in large doses without the water to wash it down. They did not take time to put structures in place that will ensure a spread of adoption
When it also comes to the comparing the Blockchain with the Internet. You have to be aware that the Blockchain is an overlay of the Internet. The genesis of Bitcoin is based on Money while that of the Blockchain is the technological aspect of it.
The Blockchain is the component that holds the major key to change. It has all the tools that can be used for re-engineering and re-imagining things
Stages of Development
Whenever a new form of technology is introduced it goes through various stages of adoption or acceptance. At first it is used to execute old processes in the new way. At this stage no real innovation is going on
The next stage is using the new technology to build brand new level of approach on how things are done
The Blockchain has to go through these stages :
+ The use of Blockchain to foster efficiency in existing companies
+Building new companies that uses the Blockchain to birth new advancements
+The third is a total transformation of Industries
The Blockchain will also birth a new array of languages just like the Internet birthed Java . The blockchain will introduce a new technological stack, one we are already familiar with is IPFS which we use as a gateway to upload videos on Dtube
The Blockchain is introducing a new technological architechture that will require new tools or building blocks
And when it comes to evolution of the Blockchain, we all know that the internet started off as a content publishing platform, before Java and other languages were Introduced that acted as a gateway for other online utitlities
People who were born after the Internet achieved mass adoption grew up to see it as a normal phenomenom, without being fully aware of the amount of work that went into its developement. Having access to the internet has become as easy as opening a web browser and conducting a Google search
The end goal of Blockchain education is to get it down to the grass roots and businesses also have a very Important role to play in mass adoption. We all know that Steemit played a huge role in ensuring Blockchain acceptance over the past two years
Another hurdle that must be crossed right now is how decentralized companies can achieve optimum monetization. With Centralized businesses like banks, the funds of customers is used to generate income for the company
The Blockchain however is decentralized and everyone is in control of their Money. We all know that what increases the value of a particular cryptocurrency is the amount of reach it has, that is why Partnerships and even news of Partnerships helps increase the price of a coin
Companies lilke BitPay that helps increase the value of Bitcoin don't recieve the full measure of the reward they deserve as most of the outcome of the value they create goes to Bitcoin holders and not the company itself. The only viable source of income they have is transaction fees
And when there is a wide number of payment processors the business will become less profitable as they will have to compete on price
When it comes to gaining a share of the Blockchain Pie there are there major pieces of the pie and they all have varying amounts of reward for people in that space
+ The first is the infrastructure layer and this is where the Miners belong to, this is the layer that currently promises the most reward for work
+ The second is the Middle Layer, this is where you get the exchanges, they make money but it cannot be compared to what the Miners get
+ The third is the Applications layer and this is still a wide open field, this is where the real developments will take place across all sectors.
We have seen some Blockchains that promise to work out applications but most of them are currently over valued. We have seen a lot of ICO's with over priced tokens that end up selling out. And most of them don't have the technology in place, all they have is just an attractive White Paper
In the fight for decentralization,there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before the Blockchain achieves what the Internet have achieved, and for those who who want to venture into the Blockchain these are various entry points you can go through
+ Infrastructure & Protocols
+ Tokenized Security
+ Gaming
+ Payments
+ Education
I put education there because it is one of the most overlooked entry points but It holds the key to success in every other sectors of the Blockchain. I will write more on Blockchain Education later
What do you think is the biggest threat to Blockchain Adoption ?
In how many years time do you think the Blockchain can achieve what the Internet has ?
Share your thoughts in the comments below
Thanks For Reading
Image Source : Pexels
Hello @ogochukwu,
this is a nice piece, i must say I'm really impressed with how far you've come in your understanding of the blockchain ecosystem.
To your question: What is the biggest threat to blockchain adoption?
I would say it's scalabilty issues. If blockchain which is expected to come & take over or enhance every aspect of information storage/transfer/processing as we know it is not as fast as the existing system then the need for its adoption might be called into question because we who are already enthusiasts within the industry are concerned with privacy/security just as much as those without are more concerned with speed & easy accessibility over true privacy, and until we can build the blockchain to be just as seamless as the current database/ledger is already we may not see blockchain receive even 1% of the adoption Uber has gotten so far.
That said, i believe the blockchain will surmount these issues & eventually drive mainstream usage for everything.
Steem on bro!
Thanks for this amazing comment. It went a long way in adding more value to the post.
I for one believe that with time the Blockchain will achieve mass adoption.
@steemcaster
Thank you for this educational piece. I don’t really understand the Blockchain but comparing it’s development to the early stages of the internet is very useful. If we compare the two it will another 15 years before it starts to mature or do you think that the pace of change in everything is much quicker?
I think 15 years is a bit far off. The amount of brains in this space makes me think we will achieve a great deal in 10 years time
@cccreative
That makes it all the more exciting I guess. I look forward to reading your posts and learning more.
The biggest threads as almost always are monsters like greediness, banks (in case their strategy still doesn't include adoption of the technology and becoming a major holder) and of course, the end of the world which will make any technology irrelevant..
Thanks for your contribution
@steemfluencer
Thanks for the detailed analysis as well @ogochkwu!
The blockchain is the invention of the century! It is a great storehouse of knowledge, creativity and earning potential. This is truly a brilliant innovation. And I think that despite all attempts to kill it, the blockchain will evolve and find their supporters around the world. It is - Future.
Thats one thing I am very sure of @anna-mi
Block chain is so unique that almost everybody (individual, companies) are clamouring for it these days.
It is the next big thing
Hi @ogochukwu is a wonderful update from you.
Cryptocurrency like all other innovation has come to stay and nothing can stop this. As the day goes by more and more floods out.
Yes many may not stand the test of time but many had.
Even till now many still not adopt it but there view is just nothing but an empty treat.
Steemit made me expose to cryptocurrency and i am so grateful for this.
Thanks @godswill
This is why I am starting a steemit reachout Nigeria Campaign soon. We must preach this Gospel
This is a really enlightening post and I look forward to reading more about this concept. I, however, may not have anything to say in respect to your question. Still, well done.