What the average human can do with Blockchain in 2018
Are you a government, a finance company, a tech company, or an exceptional human? Get out. This article is for average humans only.
Blockchain is less of a new technology than it is a new programming technique. While most commonly been associated with Bitcoin, cryptocurrency is just one of the many potential applications of blockchain. The way data is stored on the blockchain makes hacking it nearly impossible. If you hear about a hack on the news, like with Home Depot, Target, or Yahoo, hackers succeeded because they had a single target to penetrate. A blockchain database is distributed on computers across the world, so there is no single point of attack.
The advent of the blockchain has created a unique opportunity in the US economy. It is forcing the marriage of its two most important economic strongholds — Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Companies pursuing innovation and development in blockchain are receiving multimillion dollar investments in the hopes that one day, someone will come up with a reason that YOU, the average human, will give a shit.
I’ll be taking the blockchain course next month at Lighthouse Labs, which I’m told will promote me from average human to average hermit.
Do you watch the news? Of course you do, you’re average. The loudest blockchain noise you ever hear in the media is usually tied to the rollercoaster ride that is Bitcoin’s market value.
There has yet to be a successful mass market app utilizing blockchain, only niche products. So until that killer app drops, here’s how YOU, the average human, can make use of the blockchain in 2018.
Make a speculative investment
Investment in cryptocurrency is a boomin’. Whether it is a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum, companies like Robinhood, Coinbase, or Toronto’s very own Coinsquare, are doing great business providing simple access to purchase cryptocurrencies.
Try a speculative technology
Brave is a web browser that allows users earn money from advertising. LegalFling allows users to give explicit sexual consent. Steem.it is a Reddit-like community based content aggregator, where upvotes and downvotes are done with their in-house cryptocurrency.
Vice up your life
Buying drugs, weapons, or porn has never been so easy! Apparently this is the latest version of Amazon for the dark web. Rest assured - if you’ve seen it confiscated on a cop drama, you can buy it with Bitcoin. If you’d like to leave the dark web for the grey web, casinos are embracing blockchain too.
Get a pet*
Good news everyone! You can invest your hard-earned dollars into a cryptokitty. Like Tamogotchi, but cryptokitties store their adoreableness on the blockchain. Millions have already been spent on these cryptographic critters, and they just received $12 million in funding. While on one hand, I don’t see the value in a cat you can’t poke, on the other hand, I did build my own pointless cat app.
Don’t like cats? There’s always Dogecoin.
And that’s it! Everything else in your life can just as easily be facilitated by centralized apps (like Facebook and Twitter) and paper money (like Canadian and Monopoly).
Didn’t see anything useful? Then you, the average human, can rest easy, as there is no particularly good reason to do anything with the blockchain.
Unless this guy changes your mind.
Back to the app
If you’ve been following along, this is part 4. Here’s part 1, 2, and 3.
Over this last month, I have built nothing but learned a lot. I’ve been doing tutorial videos to study myself up on the latest and greatest technologies. Sometimes running a company is really boring, though it could be the lack of employees, clients, or customers. I did transfer all the company websites from paid servers to free servers, which will save me like $15 a month. So hey, things are looking up.
Anyways, here’s a music video I adore.
