The turbulent nature of the blockchain community, especially over the past few months, has been characterized by volatile cryptocurrency prices as well as emerging technological developments. While the long tail of the technology promises a fairer, more accessible future for a wide variety of industries and use cases, many question the feasibility of many upcoming, short term implementations.
It is important to recognize that we are still very much so in the early days of this growing movement. There are bound to be ups and downs, given the unstable nature of this fledgling uprising, but what is critical to understand is that the far reaching implementations of blockchain, of which may take decades to fully realize, are what can truly and fundamentally change society.
There are a number of positive indicators that imply that society, as a whole, is moving faster and faster towards this “blockchain-based world.” Here are 5 signs that this revolution is not going to be slowing down anytime soon:
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Breadth of community.
As digital assets become more and more common-place among consumers, we will continue to see a number of complementary tools and services pop up to facilitate investments and stabilize markets. From blog series that help you find fast ways to buy bitcoin to technical tutorials on how to build decentralized web applications, there are a number of in depth guides available freely on the internet.
This is a positive sign for the community broadly, as providing an ecosystem of tips and resources will reduce friction for the gold rush of new entrants. Educational material, such as blog posts, podcasts, and video series will make it easier for developers and enterprises, as well everyday consumers, to onboard into this new “blockchain based economy.”
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Investments by big companies.
Another positive indicator for the blockchain community is that there are a number of massive incumbent enterprises investing heavily in blockchain. Microsoft, IBM, Google, and Goldman Sachs are just a few of the latest group taking a dive into this frontier technology. But what does this really say about the long term implications of this movement?
For starters, it means that large companies are worried about startups coming into this space and disrupting the modern business environment. With a fear of missing out in mind, incumbent players are doing everything they can to stay relevant and keep up with the changing times. Furthermore, large investment from big companies provides some stability to the space, proving that industry leaders and experts are willing to take big bets on the future of this technology.
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An increase in investor confidence.
Though Bitcoin booming past $15,000, as well as other currencies following suit, is only one metric of success, it is at least one indication of a positive movement in the right direction. With investor confidence increasing, providing a buffer for the technology to improve and inevitably reach the masses, prices are beginning to show resilience to global affairs and trends. In other words, as investment dollars rapidly pour in, the currency, as a whole, is beginning to stabilize in many ways.
And while many warn of an inevitable “pop” or “cold winter,” long term investors realize that it will take years to realize the actualized returns of this groundbreaking of a technology. Short term profitability off of volatile returns is beneficial, but not the true purpose of blockchain, which has far broader implications.
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A wave of innovation.
One of the more promising things about the rise in accessibility to blockchain technologies is the wave of innovation that will, and is already beginning to, ensue. Developers are just now, after years of stagnating, getting proper training and access to the most fundamental aspects of building decentralized applications. Sooner or later, nearly every upcoming software engineer will be familiar with the technology to the point where it becomes second nature to build on top of blockchains and other protocols.
Much like the early days of the internet, we are likely to see trial and error for some time before seeing any long term sustainable projects. Over time, however, decentralized systems will supplant points of friction in the modern economy and become the new de facto form of startup development. It will be interesting to see how the wave of entrepreneurs, flooding the space, build ‘Internet 3.0,’ a progression to a safer and more equitable digital age.
- An expanding community.
What is perhaps most encouraging, and inspiring, about the rise of blockchain and cryptocurrencies broadly is that they have, for the most part, been a fairly grassroots movement. The majority of blockchain development did not occur in Silicon Valley via the check of some big venture capitalist or corporation. Rather, it has been a bottom-up movement started by individual hobbyists captivated the technology.
As the community has become wider, including more and more people from all over the globe, it has only become more powerful – supporting interesting token offerings and projects that are poised to dramatically impact different sectors of the modern economy. Community is critical to the success of blockchain and, to this point, has only been moving up and to the right.
