Don’t let crypto speculation overshadow Blockchain’s potential

Most of today’s conversations around crypto, whether from speculators, traditional financiers, or mainstream news sites, can be condensed into a few words: numbers going up or numbers going down.

A purely speculative stance is a disservice to blockchain, the technology that underpins crypto. From energy to the concept of ownership, to financial and internet infrastructure, blockchain has ushered in the next wave of digital innovation and has already improved many facets of the real world. People just have to stop focusing so much on the price of digital assets to see that.

This may be a strange position from a leader in the longest running crypto exchange. Let me explain: many people often forget that an important reason to buy a crypto-asset is not the potential gains it can bring, but to use it for what it is intended. For example, Ether, the original cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, is the fuel that powers thousands of applications that are built on top of it. We anticipate the recent transition to proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to drive more developers and projects to build on it.

Building with blockchain technology takes many shapes and forms. Here are some of blockchain’s game-changing applications.

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Energy

Climate changes is a pressing issue facing the planet, and crypto has often been painted as part of the problem. But crypto can also help usher in a new era of renewable energy. Due to its transparent nature, blockchain technology can help industries look for innovative ways to capture and transact energy units. Blockchain technology can enable trading of CO2 emissions to become more transparent and accessible. Several projects, including Toucan, Regen and Moss, have put carbon credits on blockchains and initiated efforts that will make the carbon credit process more transparent and accessible.

Own

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are changing the way artists make a living and connect with their fans. Startups like Audius are putting ownership of their art back into the hands of musicians and content creators. Hundreds of artists, from The Chainsmokers and Katy Perry to Nas, are taking note.

But it’s not just music artists and fans who benefit from NFTs. Blockchain technology enables true ownership by linking assets – whether digital or physical – to unique strings of code. The potential for this technology is great. For example, health technology firm MAPay will feed medical records into NFTs to give patients ownership of their medical records. People are also innovating ways to either denote ownership of real estate on the chain or fractionalize assets as an investment, making real estate investing more accessible to the masses.

The decentralized Internet

We are more and more aware of our dependence on centralized internet providers. When Amazon Web Services suffers a power outage, it reverberates across the internet. This is changing slowly but surely.

Blockchain technology enables decentralized file sharing networks where participants are incentivized to contribute computing power. Users can share resources through protocols such as Arweave and Filecoin. Another project, Renderenables distributed GPU rendering on the blockchain, revolutionizing the digital creation process.

Helium provides equipment for decentralized wireless infrastructure where users are encouraged to set up their own hotspots with the protocol’s native token.

Unstoppable domains and ENS give people innovative forms of user-owned digital identity.

Last but not least, the shift to Web3 will also enable individuals to own and control their online experience. For example Brave browser removes middlemen between website visitors and publishers by stimulating their interactions directly.

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Beyond speculation

Speculation in cryptocurrency is not the end result when it comes to the enormous potential of blockchain technology. From energy and ownership to the future of the internet itself, blockchain technology is being adopted across a wide range of fields and driving innovation. We are still in the early stages of harnessing the potential of energy transparency, NFTs, the metaverse, P2P internet and all that blockchain can empower. Let’s not let market speculation overshadow this wonderful development.