"In 2015 Uber, the world's largest taxi company owns no vehicles, Facebook the world's most popular media owner creates no content, Alibaba the most valuable retailer has no inventory, and Airbnb the world's largest accommodation provider owns no real estate."*
Through collaboration and value distribution, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) will be just as disruptive to the above centralized business models.
Bitcoin began as a P2P electronic cash system. Anyone can hold bitcoin and pay anyone without a middle man. Examples: Bitcoin, Litecoin.
You can use Bitcoin to send money around the world. Merchants can accept bitcoin payments. This is slightly different than using bitcoin as a currency. Uses cases include merchant processing and remittances. Examples: BitPay, Abra.
I have been working on many aspects of Bitcoin and blockchain technology for several years now. I am on the board of Ripple, which uses blockchain-like technology for a variety of purposes, most notably helping financial institutions achieve instant settlement in cross-border payments.
By Susan Athey, Economics of Technology Professor, Stanford GSB; Boards: Expedia, Ripple.
The blockchain can be used to create digital assets such as stocks, bonds, land titles, and frequent flyer miles. These assets are created using protocols on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. Example protocols include Coloredcoins and Counterparty. Companies using this technology: Chain, NASDAQ, Openchain.
Companies offer blockchain IDs that can be used to sign in to apps and web sites, digitally sign documents, etc. Here's mine: Wayne Vaughan's blockchain ID. Companies: Onename, Keybase
Blockchain technology offers a solution to many digital identity issues, where identity can be uniquely authenticated in an irrefutable, immutable, and secure manner. Current methods use problematic password-based systems of shared secrets exchanged and stored on insecure systems. Blockchain based authentication systems are based on irrefutable identity verification using digital signatures based on public key cryptography. In blockchain identity authentication, the only check performed is whether or not the transaction was signed by the correct private key. It is inferred that whoever has access to the private key is the owner and the exact identity of the owner is deemed irrelevant.
Netki is a startup that aspires to create a SSL standard for the blockchain. Having recently announced a $3.5 million seed round, Netki expects a product launch in early 2017.
Create a verifiable record of any data, file, or business process on the blockchain. Examples: Tierion, Proof of Existence, Factom
Software programs that live on the blockchain and execute without the possibility of third-party interference. I call this "PHP in the sky". Examples: Ethereum, RootStock.
Peer to Peer file sharing networks removes the need for centralised databases and heavy storage areas. IPFS (Planetary File System) - an innovative protocol is complimenting this big change
Storj - The Future of Cloud Storage - is one of the startups seems to be using blockchain (as per their website)
Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) makes it easy to conceptualize how a distributed web might operate. Similar to the way a bittorrent moves data around the internet, IPFS gets rid of the need for centralized client-server relationships (i.e., the current web). An internet made up of completely decentralized websites has the potential to speed up file transfer and streaming times. Such an improvement is not only convenient. It’s a necessary upgrade to the web’s currently overloaded content-delivery systems.
What if you could cut your mortgage rate, make it easier to update your will?
The world of smart contracts is fast approaching, but what are they?
These are legally binding programmable digitized contracts entered on the blockchain. They are smart because they are automated and can self-execute. What developers do is to implement legal contracts as variables and statements that can release of funds using the bitcoin network as a ‘3rd party executor’, rather than trusting a single central authority.
For example, if two people want to exchange $100 at a specific time in future when a set of preconditions are met, the conditions, payout and parties’ details would be programmed into a smart contract. Once the defined conditions are met, funds would be released and sent to the appropriate party as per terms.
The greatest barrier to getting electoral processes online, according to its detractors, is security. Using blockchain, a voter could check that her or his vote was successfully transmitted while remaining anonymous to the rest of the world. In 2014, Liberal Alliance, a political party in Denmark, became the first organization to use blockchain to vote. With American voter turnout still shockingly low, distributed digital voting may represent a way to enfranchise non-participants.
Consumers increasingly want to know that the ethical claims companies make about their products are real. Distributed ledgers provide an easy way to certify that the backstories of the things we buy are genuine. Transparency comes with blockchain-based timestamping of a date and location — on ethical diamonds, for instance — that corresponds to a product number.
The UK-based Provenance offers supply chain auditing for a range of consumer goods. Making use of the Ethereum blockchain, a Provenance pilot project ensures that fish sold in Sushi restaurants in Japan has been sustainably harvested by its suppliers in Indonesia.
What is the IoT? The network-controlled management of certain types of electronic devices — for instance, the monitoring of air temperature in a storage facility. Smart contracts make the automation of remote systems management possible. A combination of software, sensors, and the network facilitates an exchange of data between objects and mechanisms. The result increases system efficiency and improves cost monitoring.
The biggest players in manufacturing, tech and telecommunications are all vying for IoT dominance. Think Samsung, IBM and AT&T. A natural extension of existing infrastructure controlled by incumbents, IoT applications will run the gamut from predictive maintenance of mechanical parts to data analytics, and mass-scale automated systems management.
Anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) practices have a strong potential for being adapted to the blockchain. Currently, financial institutions must perform a labour intensive multi-step process for each new customer. KYC costs could be reduced through cross-institution client verification, and at the same time increase monitoring and analysis effectiveness.
startup Polycoin has an AML/KYC solution that involves analysing transactions. Those transactions identified as being suspicious are forwarded on to compliance officers. Another startup Tradle is developing an application called Trust in Motion (TiM). Characterized as an “Instagram for KYC”, TiM allows customers to take a snapshot of key documents (passport, utility bill, etc.). Once verified by the bank, this data is cryptographically stored on the blockchain.
Today, in exchange for their personal data people can use social media platforms like Facebook for free. In future, users will have the ability to manage and sell the data their online activity generates. Because it can be easily distributed in small fractional amounts, Bitcoin — or something like it — will most likely be the currency that gets used for this type of transaction.
The MIT project Enigma understands that user privacy is the key precondition for creating of a personal data marketplace. Enigma uses cryptographic techniques to allow individual data sets to be split between nodes, and at the same time run bulk computations over the data group as a whole. Fragmenting the data also makes Enigma scalable (unlike those blockchain solutions where data gets replicated on every node). A Beta launch is promised within the next six months.
As Publicly-accessible ledgers, blockchains can make all kinds of record-keeping more efficient. Property titles are a case in point. They tend to be susceptible to fraud, as well as costly and labour intensive to administer.
A number of countries are undertaking blockchain-based land registry projects. Honduras was the first government to announce such an initiative in 2015, although the current status of that project is unclear. This year, the Republic of Georgia cemented a deal with the Bitfury Group to develop a blockchain system for property titles. Reportedly, Hernando de Soto, the high profile economist and property rights advocate, will be advising on the project. Most recently, Sweden announced it was experimenting with a blockchain application for property titles.
The potential for added efficiency in share settlement makes a strong use case for blockchains in stock trading. When executed peer-to-peer, trade confirmations become almost instantaneous (as opposed to taking three days for clearance). Potentially, this means intermediaries — such as the clearing house, auditors and custodians — get removed from the process.
Numerous stock and commodities exchanges are prototyping blockchain applications for the services they offer, including the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange), the Deutsche Börse (Frankfurt’s stock exchange) and the JPX (Japan Exchange Group). Most high profile because the acknowledged first mover in the area, is the Nasdaq’s Linq, a platform for private market trading (typically between pre-IPO startups and investors). A partnership with the blockchain tech company Chain, Linq announced the completion of it its first share trade in 2015. More recently, Nasdaq announced the development of a trial blockchain project for proxy voting on the Estonian Stock Market.
Akasha Project Unveils Decentralized Social Media Network Based on Ethereum and IPFS
4G Capital provides instant access to credit for small business growth in Africa, and has developed a concept dapp for the use of smart contracts.
Donors would be able to use the dapp to fund small businesses in Kenya using digital currency. The money lent would be converted and disbursed to the businesses using 4G Capital's transactional system.
Its vision is to empower individuals, businesses and markets by delivering financial inclusion and supporting change across Africa from the grass roots level.
As well as providing 100% unsecured debt funding to self-employed informal market traders, the project provides micro-consulting and business training to increase customer skill levels and business knowledge.
Currently a working prototype, Eth-Tweet is a decentralised microblogging service running on the Ethereum blockchain. It provides basic Twitter-like functionality to tweet messages of up to 160 characters.
Being decentralised means no central entity controls what is being published, and once a message is posted, it can only be removed by the publisher.
Further, accounts can receive donations in Ether, which the team suggests can be an incentive to run provide content via the platform.
WeiFund uses Web 3.0-enabled technology to provide a crowdfunding solution on the Ethereum ecosystem.
The project says that since it will be one of many crowdfunding platforms on Web 3.0, it aims to stimulate these platforms by providing "world-class open-source modular and extensible" crowdfunding utilities that everyone can access. All critical aspects of the platform are completely decentralized.
To use WeiFund, users will first open WeiFund in a Web 3.0 enabled browser such as Ethereum's Mist. From there they can then start, contribute to, browse and manage crowdfunding campaigns.
WeiFund's interface and user experience will be very similar to that of conventional crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter or GoFundMe, however, all funds raised on WeiFund will be accounted for in the Ether digital currency.
Unlike conventional crowdfunding services like Kickstarter, though, WeiFund uses smart contracts, which means donations can actually be turned into complex agreements. This gives campaign operators a "broader range of possibilities "when raising funds, the project says.
Further, Web 3.0-enabled browsers will come with their own wallet systems, so that payments made on WeiFund to start and contribute to campaigns are carried out in a "secure and verifiable way".
Ampliative Art aims to enhance the conditions and prospects of artists via a social network-like platform.
When complete, it will be a reciprocity-based web platform with which individuals can contribute to the art community and be rewarded through "alternative means".
Artists will be able to create their own galleries and exhibit their works for free, and both users and artists can be rewarded through tips and donations, comments and reviews, share or exchange proposals. The more a user contributes to the community, the more the community is likely to reward them.
Any revenues earned by the organization will be distributed according the "reputations" of the users, the website states.
As a dapp, Ampliative Art will be a transparent cooperative in which users would collaborate, receive rewards and take part in the decision making process.