Is there a chance for blockchain without Cryptocurrencies?

At the moment governments and big businesses are avoiding cryptocurrencies like the plague. On the one hand, allowing Bitcoin as an additional currency could ruin local currency value. On the other, governments want to maintain their monopoly over printing new money.

That’s why there’s a big gap between the cryptocommunity & real blockchain adoption. Sorry, but this revolution is happening slowly and is unfortunately connected with fraud.

Look carefully at what IBM does: developing blockchain PoCs and pilots without any cryptocurrency. Together with other companies (incl. Apla) we are increasing blockchain adoption rates to help with business licence issuance, digital ID on blockchain, digitazing land registry and supply chain. Tokens could be a part of these cases, but without any additional exchanges like Binance or Huobi.

At the same time the Legality of bitcoin index doesn’t mean that you could buy bitcoin at your local bank. It’s written “yes, it’s legal” in my native Ukraine, but I can’t use it in convenient store round the corner.

What could happen if blockchain or DLT would be adopted without cryptocurrencies?

1. The dream of Bitcoin’s founder(s) will be ruined.

2. Enterprises and governments will build more trustworthy IT-systems.

3. Blockchain will be the hidden tech like Big Data, so citizens or consumers wouldn’t realize that it is revolutionizing anything.

4. Protocols will become a tool of the IT crowd, distanced from the majority of people.

If we distinguish PR populism and closely investigate the most progressive blockchain government initiative like Smart Dubai, you will find out that there’s no place for cryptos. Search on the Smartdubai.ae webpage: no cryptos in their blockchain strategy. At the same time Dubai aims to become a blockchain government by 2021. It means that they will get rid of paper and become digitalized government. Here blockchain is used as a source of media attention, citizen safety and cutting-edge technology.

Smart governance is larger topic than just cryptocurrency. Mobility, quality of life, environment, interconnected society and other areas lie in the field of interest of Dr Aisha bin Bishr (General Director of Smart Dubai).

Gazprom is another corporate giant interested in emerging technologies. Blockchain is a hot topic for it’s R&D department, because it’s not only a new technology that could make the Oil&Gas industry work more efficient, but is a playground for new talent. Gazprom blockchain-related areas of interest don’t cover cryptocurrencies yet. A new cryptocurrency couldn’t appear within this business giant, because the Russian government is controlling Gazprom and the monetary system in country.

Is it a digital currency age?

The amount of people who are using cryptocurrencies in their daily life is really low. Regulations are stopping cryptos becoming mainstream and it will take us years for cryptos to be adopted wide scale for purchasing avocados or document translation.

So we are living in the Tech age that will lead to the Digital currency age. This age of massive digitalization is witnessing lots of tech inventions appear and fade away. It’s a constant test&try world model when particular tech (both hardware and software) isn’t mandatory (remember Windows Vista).

Currently, companies like SAP & Accenture are working on more and more blockchain use-cases. Eventually, their aim is to make profit, so blockchain is a revenue stream (especially, when it could open previously closed doors and generate leads). The open-source community will strike against corporate giants “modulating” blockchain for their own purposes and getting away from “lets get rid of the banks” mindset.

The war for blockchain

Old Catalan anarchists can’t understand modern digital resistance

Two separate worlds (lets call them “the EOS clan” & “Amazon Cloud blockchain dApps”) are competing with each other. They share the some goals (think of making money on mining or cryptoexchanges), but their viewpoints are fundamentally different: governments want to govern for ages, businesses wants to make money and the cryptocommunity… Suddenly we find out that we know nothing about big cryptocommunity. Are they Chinese miners controlling mining capacities of Bitcoin, USA born cryproexchange speculators, the Ethereum community or freelance developers on GitHub. There are so many voices within the blockchain community that it’s really decentralised (Monero’ drug lords can’t be connected with MIT tech teams).

Truth is in the eyes of beholder — cryptos could be used both for worse or better.

It’s a hybrid war for many reasons. And it isn’t at the height of battle yet because the blockchain adoption rate is still low. So why should we wage a war against the open-source community and business, public protocols vs permissionless protocols, moneymakers vs driven by believers in social well being? Is there a chance for an index of unification to happen?

Yes:

When technology adoption will help everyone to achieve it’s goals; and

When we all will live in the brand new world driven by tech evolution.