How much do you guess a business today would need to pay a developer to build a blockchain for them? Consider that a software developer of 15+ years makes just over $100,000 a year according to Glassdoor. But you can make up to double that amount with just 2 years of experience as a blockchain developer, as seen here by a job offered right here in Lamden’s HQ city of San Francisco. Blockchain development is a very specialized skill, so it requires specialized devs.
The problem is that we don’t want blockchains to be a specialized field. Those who believe in future of cryptocurrency are waiting for the taboo around it to break so that we can experience the next widespread technological advancement of our time. But as it stands, blockchain development is difficult for new developers to get involved with and prohibitively expensive for businesses.
How will Cryptocurrency go Mainstream?
Let’s be real: adoption takes time and effort. It is hard to change minds and even harder to change habits. How can cryptocurrency and blockchain tech as a whole become part of everyday life?
The answer is the same as any other major invention since the dawn of time: commercialization. If it has a commercial use, then stigmas can only last so long before practical value — coupled with the lure of profits — overcome negative perceptions. I’ve answered the question on whether businesses need blockchains here, but now let’s dive into the next natural question: how will they get them?
Obstacles to Blockchain Adoption
A business blockchain today is very expensive, and very impractical to build. We see this in the salary of any job related to building blockchains like the one from FRG Consulting above. Kris Henley, communications manager with the Centre for the Digital Economy at the University of Surrey, states that blockchain is “turning out to be more complicated than most of us thought. Its tremendous potential is mitigated by its steadfast resistance to being a ‘magic’ solution.” This complexity stands between blockchain and global adoption.
The good news is this is perfectly normal. New technology always starts off as cumbersome and expensive, with only limited and specialized uses to start. Think of everything from steel production to the modern computer: they only become widely adopted when they become commercially viable beyond their specialized uses. In these times, the companies that ultimately have the greatest success, the Apples and the Microsofts, are those that reduce barriers to entry, improve ease of use, and lower the cost of adoption. This is exactly what we need for blockchain: reducing the cost, time, inconveniences, and understanding the needs of businesses and individuals trying to launch their own blockchains and DApps.
Lamden’s Open-Sourced Developer Suite Solution
Lamden arose from the recognition of this need. Although we pride ourselves on our upcoming blockchain’s state-of-the-art abilities and transaction speeds, the most important thing we are doing is giving the average developer the tools to build enterprise-grade blockchains in minutes. The entire suite of tools is open-sourced and free to use, so there will be no “pay-wall” barrier between any developer and this newly accessible blockchain skillset.
To give more insight as to what exactly we are introducing to the world: our tool Saffron will allow developers to launch and customize their desired blockchain without any blockchain specialization skills needed. For example, an Ethereum-based blockchain can be launched in under ten minutes, as demonstrated by our lead developer Stuart here (this will be further simplified from the user-end as the tool develops). Our smart contract manager, Flora, allows the creation and execution of smart contracts with our much simplified and permissioned smart contracting language, Seneca. Clove is our atomic swap protocol that will allow anyone to swap between virtually any two blockchains, allowing full interchain ecosystems to be built without the need for blockchain-specialized devs.
Blockchain has proven its use, and the interest of companies around the globe in the tech is ever-increasing. However, access to the benefits is still very limited. Lamden will be equipping businesses with the keys they need to profit from this epic shift. In fact, this suite of developer tools does more than just enable businesses to build blockchains; they are the first critical steps toward widespread blockchain adoption in the enterprise world.
