Decentralization is around us
I have been able to quickly take this picture on the J line in Brooklyn on my way to Manhattan. I wonder how many who pass by the same point each day have figured out what it means. I wonder how many who work in blockchain have seen it. I personally believe everyone of us: as humans we tend to think in predictable patterns and, once you start living in the decentralized world, you see decentralization everywhere.
The last few days in Brooklyn and Manhattan have been incredible. I chose to stay in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan to have a look at what is brewing close to the Consensys home. I was astonished by the blockchain breeze you can feel almost everywhere in the city. In fact, apart from the three days spent at Consensus, I spent the rest of my time there and did hang out mostly there.
The first day I arrived I met with some friends from old time at Ethereal, the Consensys event which opens the blockchain week and has a focus on human arts. We at RigoBlock develop applications for finance, the most obvious use case; hence we do not have the competencies to understand how decentralization can have a great impact in other types of applications, which have a broader social aspect bonded to themselves.
Joe Lubin gave an inspiring presentation about the ConsenSys mission and vision. The video is just a snapshot; the path towards fairer organization models has been clearly defined and many more are joining the moment, recognizing themselves in the same set of values. The decentralized auction which followed was hilarious!
I was able to speak at the Crypto House the next day, a freshly renovated house in downtown Manhattan for all things blockchain and crypto. As one of the early visitors, I was able to leave a testimony of our passage, as guests were allowed to leave a trace on the wall. If you happen to pass by CryptoHouse, have a look at the wall, hope you’ll still find us there!
During the following days I met with a few friends both around the Consensus venue. The biggest revelation was by hanging around in Brooklyn, where everyone is crazy about blockchain and decentralization. We would like to thank the manager of the Williamsburg Hotel for the nice conversation we had on Monday night, getting a better hindsight of the ecosystem which is emerging in Williamsburg and Bushwick.
And then, Consensus. Huge. Brutal. No filters. No comment needed.
Decentralization today is coupled with cryptocurrencies, which divide the opinions. In fact, some love cryptos, which is already a niche of its own dignity. Some understand that, in order for the technology to be accessible by everyone, a further layer, built on top of cryptocurrencies, is necessary. And that is what goes towards user adoption: user experience. By that we mean easier access to the technology and tokenization of assets which do not expose individuals to the brutal fluctuations of cryptocurrencies. As much as I personally like cryptos, for the people who might benefit the most from this technology, its volatility makes it inaccessible for using them as currency or as a means of exchange of value.
In these regards, the tokenized dollar announced by Circle, built on top of Ethereum, is kind of a big deal.
As a reminder to all the crypto lovers, as much as we love the freedom provided by cryptocurrencies, moving towards better, more secure and user friendly tools and applications is a necessity to fulfill our tasks, amongst which bringing down the barriers to entry to entire markets. I believe we should never forget that our ultimate goal is to have an impact on society.
That said, we’d like to thank you for reading our take of the blockchain week in New York. No matter what types of assets created on blockchain, RigoBlock is here to organize the value and we’ll keep working restlessly to execute our mission of creating a better technology for powering the asset management world.
