Data is to the future what oil was to the twentieth century: a precious asset which will bring wealth and influence to the people who are able to exploit it in the most meaningful way.

And with the sheer volume of data generated, visualising and processing this stream of numbers and facts in a way that makes sense to humans is a constant challenge.

It’s no surprise that even the most traditional of newspapers are advertising for data journalists: either news-savvy developers or tech-savvy news people who can sift vast fields of data to find the story buried deep within the layers. Words, graphs or even infographics are insufficient to convey the complexities of many stories, which is why data visualisation specialists are such a hot property.

The Bitcoin network lends itself exceptionally well to such visualisations: the immense power and scale of the network, and its global reach are difficult properties to convey with bare facts.

A great tool for illustrating block discovery and transactions, especially for Bitcoin newbies, is the interactive globe at http://blocks.wizb.it/

Bitcoin never sleeps, and there is something awe-inspiring about watching a decentralised network handle transactions in real time, on a planetary scale.

Probably my favourite Bitcoin visualisation is the over-the-top cute Japanese block explorer pictured above http://ift.tt/1O4USm9 (turn the sound up for maximum enjoyment).

But it occurred to me the other day that these visualisations, impressive as they are, are simple compared with how they will look in two, or five, or ten years’ time.

As side chains are started here and there, entering and re-entering the network at various points and as the Ethereum network gains in power and decentralised autonomous organisations spring up, the interactive globes of the future will be lit up with interlinking constellations of public consensus networks and the applications that depend on them.

This three-way intersection of data, visuals and blockchain could one day provide the most beautiful and revealing map of economic activity and interdependence in the world.

Edit: Updating this post to include some more great visualizers (hat tip to Brooke (@bitcoinmom) for suggesting:
http://bitcoincity.info/
http://analytx.io/
http://bitcointicker.co/transactions/
http://www.bitlisten.com/
http://fiatleak.com/
https://gappleto97.github.io/visualizer/
http://bitcoin.interaqt.nl/