A simple, formidable challenge for blockchain: institutional trust

Blockchain tech has already convinced many of its potential to fundamentally change the world, but there is a larger battle, and that’s institutional acceptance. By “institutional acceptance,” I mean “the state of being conventionally recognized as having a practical use in the infrastructure of our lives.” It’s critical to gain because if the larger public recognizes practical uses for blockchain tech, public officials or the media will have a harder time obstructing the fundamental, positive changes it could bring.

I believe that both of these entities are largely controlled by private interests – but I digress...

When considering institutional acceptance, the optimization that blockchain can bring is of less importance than whether or not it can ever be correlated with stable, efficient services. In no particular order, here is what I would say makes your “normal” person skeptical about cryptocurrencies:

1. Bitcoins usage by hackers and criminals
2. Volatility of prices, exchanges
3. The vaulting, general opinions of blockchain/bitcoin/ethereum’s ability to change everything, especially by people with investments

The first two, us proponents can largely do nothing about – the 3rd we can, to some extent, by learning about limitations and sharing honest opinions. And speaking of limitations, I can’t think of what I would like to see more than a modest design that uses blockchain in a simple and practical way. Consider the Braun radio, which is the introductory image of this article. Designed by Dieter Rams, this is the first time that the volume button was also the power button (turn right past click to turn on, left until click to turn off.) People had completely accepted the idea of the on/off switch, but Rams came up with a simple, modest design that was undeniably accessible. We can see how it has permeated.

In learning about the blockchain space, I have found that too much is being said about what can be done while what is missing is a simple, modest design proving a blockchain use case and accessibility.

Thanks for reading - for more on Dieter Rams, check out this video from The School of Life: