I’ve been participating and engaging in conversations with a lot of people recently about blockchain. One of the key stand out issues for me – people just don’t “get” what blockchain technology is. They all say something along the lines: “I’ve read definitions and seen examples, but I just don’t get it!” And comments like: “Oh blockchain – that’s Bitcoin, right? (Whatever that is!)”
And it makes me wonder why? Is the concept of distributed ledgers so hard to understand? Or is it their application? (Or both!). And then the confusion caused by cyrptocurrencies (like Bitcoin).
What are the implications of this lack of understanding? Potentially, they’re huge!!
And this is where the article I’ve selected for this week comes in… This is one of the well-written articles that describes blockchain and cryptoeconomics in plain simple language, connecting the concepts to how things have worked before blockchain and how they will shift with blockchain.
Some of the key messages to call out:
“Blockchains are experimental technology.. not everything is a blockchain use case…”
BUT… “This process is going to be extremely disruptive”.
As with early internet experiences, we have yet to imagine and implement the potential of blockchain. But like the internet, I believe blockchain is going to change everything – well, a lot of things, perhaps not everything! They will disrupt a number of ways we do things, and as the article highlights in the conclusion, the associated technologies will massively disrupt current economic conditions.
The important message: develop an understanding of the concepts and models that can be used across many ledger-based organisational contexts. Be prepared and start thinking differently about the way ownership and possession is determined, the way smart contracts may offer new and more secure ways of doing business.
This post is part of a weekly Friday Faves series contributed by the team at Ripple Effect Group. Read the entire series and collections from other team members here.
Digital Dialogues 
