Here’s to the biggest opponents of blockchain and cryptocurrency
Last week, we attended Block Live Asia as presenting partners. The event was the first of its kind — it was an event aimed not at ICOs, not at investors, not at enterprises, not at regulators — but the public. The event was described as a “blockchain festival pushing for mass adoption”.
We did not know what to expect, but we came onboard because of its timely and ambitious objective. The word blockchain, a word that was associated with excitement, hype and energy just a year ago now feels tired, old and overused.
On the first day, as we stepped into the event hall, we saw that the event was not filled with aisles of projects after projects doing ICOs. In fact, there were just a handful of demos and zones. Some of the projects there were TenX, Sapien Network, Kaunto, Spiking, VodiX amongst others. These select projects have something in common: They all have products ready to scale for mass adoption, given traction from the attending public. I downloaded the TenX app and my TenX card is now on the way to me.
TokenData reported that ICOs raised $5.6B in 2017. Surely, with such gigantic numbers, we would have more to show. I guess for now, this is all we have. Despite the influx of investment, the industry faces many roadblocks. The guys who were at the event are the knights in shining armour and our best chance at salvation. From the bottom of my heart, I wish for each and every one of them to find wins in their pursuit of mass adoption. If they can show the average man on the street that blockchain can be used to better their lives, more would care, momentum would build and judgement would be focused on what works and not what sounds good.
I sat in for some of the panel sessions and heard from seasoned speakers like Roger Ver, Felix Mago, Garrett Jin, Sabrina Kim and Shaun Djie. Observing the attendees, I could tell that a lot of the information being shared was new to them. There is truly a big gap between the blockchain folks and the rest of the world, and this divide will only continue to get bigger and bigger if we do not actively promote education. I also realised the immense responsibility for speakers to be accurate and well-informed. The audience was a blank canvas upon which speakers’ opinions become the first facts. I do not know what the future looks like for blockchain, but I know that to the average man in the street, it is a big hairy unknown monster. I applaud Block Live Asia for having the courage to dissect this phenomenon and try to make it less intimidating for everyone.
In retrospect, here are 3 of my main takeaways -
- Practitioners and businesses in the space need to talk less, do more. Focus less on the smokes and mirror and instead build something that works. This is the only way to survive in the long run. Vanity metrics and dramatic proclamations are merely distractions.
- Anyone who claims to be a proponent of the space should act in the best interest of the space. We need educators and teachers, not self-serving sales people trying to make another quick buck. A challenge to every speaker out there — get 5 people in your own network to understand the space better. If you care enough for blockchain, you will care enough to get your own friends and family educated.
- Projects which have successfully raised money from their ICOs, STOs, private rounds and the like, should remember that they have only won half the battle. While they have passed the first hurdle with a commercially viable product, they now face the lengthy process of making it superior against other offerings in the market. The battle is not with other blockchain projects, but the rest of the tech space. Keep building, keep reiterating, keep delivering value to your users.
At Consentium, we’ve built a chat app powered for communities via blockchain technology. Our app is currently powered by a crypto wallet which allows in-app transfers.
While I am proud to say that our app is ready for public use, there is still a lot of work to be done. Until we have convinced our users that our app is superior against substitutes in the market, we cannot claim any victory. Join us on our journey and give us your feedback here at any time.
Stay tuned via our social channels to know more about Consentium and our future activities. We value the feedback of our community users, so please feel free to share your thoughts with us as we keep updating you on our progress!
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