Bitcoin’s Shadow
Bitcoin and blockchain. These two were invented together in the now well-known tale of Satoshi Nakamoto. I won’t retell the story here, but it suffices to say that Bitcoin emerged as a new, polarizing phenomenon, and continues to be controversial until today. It presented a new way to look at currency with no parallels before it. It attracted widespread attention as a financial asset with promises of riches and glamour, promises it fulfilled for many, with many more waiting their turn. Some see it as a liberation from the governmental monopoly on currency. Conversely, others see it as a ponzi scheme, an enabler of criminal activity, and a misunderstanding of modern financial complexity.
Bitcoin continues to polarize today, with ongoing debates on its practicality and longevity. But this article is not about Bitcoin. Rather, it is about something that should be a lot less controversial, something already proven: Blockchain. The first true way of creating digital scarcity. A new way for anyone to share digital value without the need to ask or trust anyone. A truly revolutionary invention, overshadowed by controversy. If we can separate the two, then we can take a good look at what blockchain actually is, as opposed to its first implementation. Let us list what blockchain can do for everyone, whether they believe in Bitcoin or not.
Cryptocurrency Doesn’t Have to be a New Currency
A misnomer that may be too late to change, cryptocurrency’s name implies that in all its forms it is a new type of money. In reality, the term just refers to the assets of a blockchain which can be currency, securities, utilities, or on a spectrum between different classifications. I want to highlight one specific type of cryptocurrency that is currency, but not a new currency: stablecoins. These coins (such as the infamous Tether and the up and coming DAI) take currency as we know it, and tokenize them into a digital, decentralized form. This in and of itself is revolutionary: fiat that can be sent without the need for any centralized entity.
Separating Financial Gains from a Versatile Technology
Perhaps the most recognizable attribute of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole is extreme price fluctuation. Much of the hopes and fears are tied to the market and not the underlying technology that created said market. This is where again stablecoins serve as an example of blockchain without any investment-related stigma. A digital asset need not only provide value from an increase in price. Blockchain allows for immutable record keeping that can have no connection to a publicly-priced asset. I’ve written about this before in my blockchain for businesses article here. Most importantly, blockchain allows for these scarce assets to move about the world seamlessly.
A New Way to Send Money
Let’s us pretend Bitcoin doesn’t exist, but the technology of Blockchain does. Combining a few of the facts stated here, we see that blockchain can provide us with an asset that can be stable in price, represent modern fiat instead of compete with it, and be sent across the world without an intermediary. This alone is a financial revolution in the making. This is what the goal of Leios is: a system that creates a way to send traditional fiat anywhere in the world using this new technology to significantly reduce the price, time of transfer, and trust needed. The customers of the system need not invest in or even know about blockchain technology, the same way they do not understand any other technological components of the phones or computers they use.
Separating blockchains from its stigmas is the first step in a true adoption of the technology. Allowing users to benefit from the means of the technology without having to understand is the next. It can then be just like the internet on which it resides: understood by few but enjoyed by all.
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