Why you must resist the blockchain!

Photo by Zulmaury Saavedra on Unsplash

The hype and the fall

There has been a lot of hype around the crypto-sphere and blockchain space in the last few years. By far the biggest event was the incredible bull run of 2017 and subsequent crash into 2018. Hundreds of billions of dollars of ‘market capitalisation’ were created and lost in a matter of months. If no publicity is bad publicity, then that period did more than any in Bitcoin’s 10-year history to push cryptocurrencies and blockchain into the public – and institutions' – minds.

Hundreds of billions of dollars of ‘market capitalisation’ were created and lost in a matter of months

I - like many people at the time – was swept up in the current of hype and FOMO and although I came out unscathed, I didn’t come out of it with a Lamborghini either! I did however, gain a keen interest in what this technology was about; what are the real benefits it could bring OR NOT? After all, there really was no real benefit in tokenizing everything.

The sector is maturing rapidly

As I have delved deeper into the space, I am amazed at how quickly it is moving. The hype of last year has had a tangible effect - Crypto has grown up and people are serious about taking this mainstream and the quality of people that have moved into crypto has improved dramatically. Need proof - just look at EOSio and block.one's 1 billion dollar VC fund and the those behind it. There is no doubting that people are serious about developing the fabled Web 3.0 and all the benefits that this is supposed to bring.

The hype of last year has had a tangible effect - Crypto has grown up and people are serious about taking this mainstream

Here is where I pause.

I have no doubt that all the proponents of blockchain are keen to see it succeed and many - if not most- of people that I meet and and talk to have the best intentions for the future. I am however concerned about what the potential impacts of success could mean. We are witnessing the creating of a new foundation layer that will underpin the next technological revolution.

This is important! We are not looking at runaway moonshot developers here - we are now looking at attempt engineer the underlying architecture of the next technological revolution. The intent here is to create a new paradigm.

Double edged sword

When you have a trans-formative technology that creates major, disruptive change - you will have winners and losers. Decisions will be made by the leaders of these projects over the next few years that will impact all of us and will decide, either explicitly or via the law of unintended consequences, who those winners and losers will be.

When you have a trans-formative technology that creates major, disruptive change - you will have winners and losers

The dilemma is that we cannot know the future and that despite our best efforts and intentions we may do harm. It is important that as decisions are made, the community holds those in power to account. We should think with the end in mind and not fool ourselves into thinking that every advance will lead to a panacea in which all people benefit.

The blockchain could just as easily end up enslaving us freeing us. The drive for mainstream adoption could for instance see developers create smart contracts in which regulation is built in at source - including jurisdictional rules. Combine this with an immutable identity solution and bang - the flood gates open, money rolls in and the the future is now!

But what if this same solution leads to a future where our access to money, work, travel and communication with others is all controlled on the blockchain. My immutable identity can be used to 'switch me off' and restrict my liberty. Imagine China's social credit system on the blockchain, what then?

Resist the blockchain

In closing, I want to say that I see an incredible future in this new technology. I am and will continue to be a advocate for it. I am just calling on the community to stop and think about the potential unintended consequences of the decisions made today, and from time to time - Resist the blockchain!