Blockchains and Nature: The Rise of Utility Ecosystems
by David Menard | Software Engineer at injii
2017 has been explosive for blockchain solutions and cryptocurrencies. As we approach the end of the year, any enthusiast that has been following cryptocurrencies for at last 6 months would know their understanding and interests have matured. How many hard forks, hacks or public figures have thrown fear, uncertainty or doubt (FUD)? We have seen week after week of ICOs and whitepapers but they seem to be forming a cookie cutter approach rather than innovate with the technology. Everyone expects the next Google or Amazon to emerge from this wave of technology but with distributed and decentralized; will we see single coins survive/dominate or the rise of utility ecosystems?
The great debate between whether a coin is a security or whether it has utility has become the initial liability hurdle for surviving an evolving 3.0 wild west. What role does the coin have? To maximize the impact of distributed networks, utility ecosystems will need to emerge. As more coins are developed the need to do everything with one coin will dwindle. Between scaling issues and governance, life is too complicated for one coin to handle an infinite amount of roles. Nothing in nature has that type of dominance. You would equally perish without water, food or air; at different rates but the impertinence within the three are equal. A balance of different roles, some with more responsibility than others but equally important are required to create sustainable utility ecosystems.
Within any organization or hierarchy in society or nature there are a spectrum of roles needed in order for balance and progress. Blockchains and smart contracts are fundamentally identical to the structure of nature. Nature has predefined roles that evolve or perish whilst leaving a record in time. All elements on the periodic table have their own role in our environment. At the basic level they have been discovered with more utility being applied daily. We should be designing our blockchains and smart contracts with nature as our template.
Traditionally VC’s, Angels, and investment groups have shunned the idea that startups could start with a multisided market and multiple revenue streams. They would urge the startup to focus on one market and one revenue stream. This is where blockchain/ICOs have made its most disruption this year. Startups are dropping the narrow minded mindset of traditional investors and addressing issues for society on a global scale. So far in 2017, more money has been raised by ICOs than VCs have invested. That’s the true flippening that happened this year. The vehicle to fund raise from all participants enables multi-sided / multi-revenue stream solutions to emerge with greater success.
In nature there are cohesive relationships in all participants and things. Is it hopeful to think blockchains and cryptocurrencies are a return to a more natural process of life? Rather than single solutions and centralized operators emerging as titans of the tech space, will we see the rise of utility ecosystems?
