This short piece by @archane28 (hereafter 28) got me thinking (https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@archane28/blockchain-is-on-barron-s-now-talk-about-legitimate-and-mainstream). 28 references a high-brow finance-type magazine article which points out that the reason for the recent success of blockchain technology is unclear given that the technology is still in its 'beta testing' phase. 28 notes that the fact that such a respected finance paper writing about blockchain shows that cryptocurrencies are becoming mainstream.
It sure does.
But it seems to me there's more going on here.
I think that a lot of cryptotech early adopters are creative enough to see the potential of such groundbreaking technology.
For example, imagine the long term implications and innovations enabled by the promise of these altcoins (a term essentially meaning alternatives to Bitcoin):
*Ethereum promises a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference.
*Siacom revolutionises cloud storage. It splits apart, encrypts, and distributes your files across a decentralized network. Since you hold the keys, you own your data. Unlike traditional cloud storage providers, no outside company can access or control your files.
*Golem is a global, open sourced, decentralized supercomputer that anyone can access. It's made up of the combined power of user's machines, from personal laptops to entire datacenters. Anyone will be able to use Golem to compute (almost) any program you can think of, from rendering to research to running websites, in a completely decentralized & inexpensive way.
*Steem is a blockchain-based social media platform where anyone can earn rewards - and is ideally suited to discussing cryptotech.
*Augur combines the magic of prediction markets with the power of a decentralized network to create a stunningly accurate forecasting tool.
*Ripple works with banks to transform how they send money around the world — a necessary step to compete in today’s growing economy.
*Stratis offer simple and affordable end-to-end solutions for development, testing and deployment of native C# blockchain applications on the .Net framework.
*Dash is Digital Cash You Can Spend Anywhere. Use Dash to make instant, private payments online or in-store using a secure open-source platform hosted by thousands of users around the world.
*Factom creates products that transform the way organisations secure and share their data. Their products safeguard the most critical government, commercial, and non-profit systems.
(All information copied from the cryptotech websites.)
Cryptotech is quickly becoming a bit of an obsession for me, inspiring me creatively in a way I seriously didn't see coming. I'd be really happy to engage in the big ideas playing in the creativetech background, and I'd love to engage with your ideas. To see where I'm coming from, check out my first steemit piece, 'What if the future arrived and we didn't notice' on https://steemit.com/@drwom
More to come!