The Blockchain dApp Environment- Is It Far Away From Mainstream Adoption?
Two years ago, when we talked of Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution), the obvious technologies that came to mind were Big Data & Analytics, Artificial Intelligence & Cognitive technologies, Robotics & machine learning, Cybersecurity, Wearables, Nanotechnology, the Internet of Things (IoT), Quantum Computing, Additive Manufacturing, Advanced materials, etc.
It was not common to hear of blockchain in this conversation as most people only related this nascent technology with cryptocurrencies (think Bitcoin- a peer-to-peer digital cash that spearheaded the sudden rise of blockchain).
However, so much has happened since Bitcoin introduced the blockchain concept; a number of blockchain-based inventions are hitting the mainstream at a faster rate. Notably, recent survey data from the World Economic Forum (WEF) have even estimated at least ten percent of global GDP will be stored on blockchain platforms by 2025.
This projection is based on the fact that consumers and enterprises across the globe are now finally paying close attention to blockchain and are viewing it as an in-demand technology. Governments have also taken note of this powerful technology and are advancing legislation and regulations to keep up with the shift in consumer attitudes.
The Ethereum blockchain platform has been instrumental to blockchain’s popularity; its’ wide range of use cases such as the ability to create decentralized applications have even made the technology become part of Industry 4.0.
Organizations are now viewing blockchain as the technology that can integrate smart, decentralized and transparent digital solutions into production and operations methodologies to create a powerful enterprise.
Consequently, this has made blockchain become an investment theme with statistics indicating close to 50 percent of organizations are planning to invest $5 million or more in new blockchain initiatives over the next 12 months.
Through this primer, we want to have a look at the current state of the blockchain dApp environment and how far away it is from gaining mainstream adoption.
The Blockchain dApp Environment
Based on our findings, we’ve noted a good number of decentralized applications have been developed; in fact, data from STATE OF THE DAPPS shows that currently, the total number of decentralized applications that have been created on top platforms like Ethereum, EOS, Steem among others stand at 2,667, the number of daily active users is at 26.85k, the number of transactions within a 24-hour period is at 291.5k with each dApp averaging a transaction volume of close to $5million while the number of smart contracts that have been created is at 4.21k.
Clearly, the blockchain dApp environment is underperforming and this is largely due to various shortcomings of the blockchain technology such as low scalability, high latency, low sequential performance, and weak security.
Despite all this, the demand for dApps is still very high compared to the supply and that’s why the dApp Builder team is working hard to develop an ideal platform which will enable users in all industries (think retail, supply chain, gaming, insurance, banking, healthcare, non-profits, real estate, energy, media, etc.) to create trusted, real-life decentralized applications.
Essentially, the platform will provide the following benefits:
· Users in the gaming industry will be able to create blockchain-based games that benefit from advanced features such as non-fungible tokens and system transparency. Game players will form part of a truly valid ecosystem such that they will become parts of the game and come up with unique contents in the game. Their behaviors in games will unpredictably influence the development of the game. This ultimately, will help transform the relationship between the gaming companies and players.
· Users will be able to create top-notch user-generated content (UGC) applications that are decentralized and transparent. We know that the current UGC applications (think Wikipedia, Medium, Reddit, Messengers, etc.) are limited in terms of security and privacy. Content such as videos, blogs, discussion posts can easily be stolen while the platforms themselves can decide without users’ consent to sell their private information to advertisers. The dApp platform, therefore, seeks to enable the creation of best-in-class UGC applications that will be decentralized in nature and above all transparent.
· Businesses regardless of the industry type will be able to transform transactions and interactions as they will be able to simplify business processes, improve customer experiences and reduce costs. They will be able to create decentralized applications powered by smart contracts which will enable automation, revolutionize the supply chain and enhance source tracing.
· Other benefits will include: users will create dApps that have low transaction fees, exhibit a modern free Internet business model, support a simpler identity management process, among other benefits.
The point is once the blockchain technology matures and people begin viewing blockchain beyond cryptocurrencies, we will start seeing powerful applications powered by this technology come to fruition.
Closing Thoughts
There is no denying that our lives and the way businesses are run have truly become digital, that is, everything is increasingly linked to the platforms, devices and apps which currently provide users with the best-in-class experiences. The information age has resulted to improved ways of interacting with organizations and millions of other users in ways that we couldn’t imagine even a decade ago.
In essence, the traditional applications are currently doing a good job and aren’t going anywhere for now, anyway. However, based on past experiences we know nothing is perfect; recent happenings such as the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal and EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, have shown our identity data, for instance, has often been exposed and used without our consent. This is just one of the many limitations of the traditional applications.
That’s why we need decentralized applications (dApps) which will not only ensure we own and control our data but will also store elements of that data in a secure manner and preserve privacy among other benefits.
As the blockchain dApp environment grows closer to mainstream adoption, the dApp Builder platform wants to ensure that organizations will be in a position to easily deploy decentralized applications that will remain true to users expectations especially when it comes to issues such as data management and privacy.
Feel free to utilize dApp Builder features and create your perfect decentralized application. Also please let us know about what other decentralized apps you think are important.
