My understanding of Blockchain continues (at least I keep telling myself that)...

"My caution to all is get as much information as you can about this technology but look hard at what they are saying. I'm pretty sure there is a pony in here under all this manure."                                                                                                                                               — Jerry Fletcher

Jerry is a smart man so I have continued to get as much information as I can about Blockchain technology — not only to understand it for cocktail party banter but to determine if there is a place for me in all of it. 

As I continue to dig into the utility of Blockchain technology I've categorized it into three general areas for consideration —

1. Blockchain technology used in a centralized manner for data integrity and process efficiency — current trust institutions (such as banks) that want to be more efficient and effective with the integrity of their data management.
2. Blockchain technology used in a decentralized manner to disrupt current trust institutions and middlemen — challenging the way we do things, such as banking.
3. Blockchain technologies used in a decentralized manner to create new "ecosystems", as well as new value creation becasue of its activities — the creation of defined value where there was none before (represented through its cryptocurrency).

As I have mentioned before, I am not a very good futurist so there are probably many other areas of consideration.

I've also come to appreciate that if you're looking at Blockchain from a "decentralized perspective" you need to have some sort of "currency or token" involved — it is used as an incentive for the network (or "ecosystem") to ensure it works properly. A currency is required to support the efforts of the people in the network in a sustainable way, and ultimately will reflect the value associated with what is happening in the ecosystem. 

As I continue to search for the "pony" I have come to believe I'll align with the third consideration for two simple reasons — I don't have any coding skills to speak of that would help an established institution and I just don't have the energy to be very disruptive. Although strangely enough, I do have the energy to get involved with new ecosystems. Go figure. Maybe it's my marketing background, or my increased efforts with blogging, or my interests in personal branding or even my increased involvement with social media... I don't really know; whatever the reason though, it seems my place in all of this is leaning towards blockchain and it's utility with social media — and I suppose by extension, personal data and identity in the virtual world.

Because more than ever we are living in both the real and virtual world (with each becoming as real as the other) — and frankly, I want only one of me in each.

iamgpe

PS — As always let me know where I've gone off the rails.

Blockchain and recreational marijuana...

I was recently sitting across the table from an associate who is trying to raise money for a couple of ventures she's involved with and as part of the conversation she said (with a sigh), "If it doesn't have the word blockchain or marijuana in the title of the pitch deck no one cares. Blockchain and recreational marijuana is all anyone wants to talk about".

If you aren't aware, Canada is planning to legalize recreational marijuana July 1st of this year (although the Senate is already saying maybe August), and the speculation and preparation is at a fevered pitch — personally I think when it finally does become legal the shakeout from a business perspective will turn everything into one big hot mess. Blockchain though is something very different — although admittedly I was struggling to understand its potential other than the platform that allowed for the crazy speculation that surrounds bitcoin and its cryptocurrency cousins.

By nature I am not a "tech guy" and rarely an early adopter, but it became apparent after talking to other people (and the recent deal between the social media platform beBee and a blockchain company called Profede) I needed to have a deeper understanding of what blockchain is, and more importantly what blockchain can do.

I wanted to ensure that if I missed any opportunity it wasn't because I was too lazy to become more knowledgeable. 

I've done a fair bit of research so far and I'm just starting to glean the potential of blockchain, although I'm still blind to most of it — I definitely have come to understand why people say it's the next iteration of the Internet though. There will probably be a great many holes in my thinking about blockchain but I wanted to make an attempt at articulating what it is, and more importantly, what it can do. And I think it's best to start with the internet.

The thing about the internet as we know it today is everything can be copied... over, and over, and over again — and because of this the content of the internet has been "devalued" to a point it has no innate value, as well as virtually no level of trust associated with it. Is that beautiful photograph the original or the millionth copy?

Blockchain allows for both trust and value to be created on the internet.

Using very complicated math and a decentralized network of computers, a public ledger can be created that offers what I call "immutable uniqueness" — it allows for the creation of something that can not be copied and is verified (and policed) by a public, decentralized system of users. The need for a third party trust institution (such as a bank) to ensure a transaction is honest is no longer needed. This I understood right away, but frankly I didn't want to be caught up in the very big turf war that is brewing between the currently trust establishments and something so very disruptive.

What I didn't appreciate was blockchain also allows you to create "ecosystems" (economic systems, not ecological systems).

The bi-product of a system that offers "immutable uniqueness" is that it creates something which can be given "immutable value". And I suppose you might as well call it currency because it is inherently used as a reward for any effort in the ecosystem — bitcoin miners are rewarded for all their computer power, brains, and involvement with bitcoin. Blockchain enables ecosystems to be created which allow you, through your "efforts and involvement in that ecosystem" to create currency from the system that unto itself has value — much like a country's economy is reflected in the value of it's currency.

And one last concept that ties this all together — fiat currency.

Fiat currency is defined as a currency established as money by government regulation or law or an ecosystem, and is derived from the Latin fiat ("let it become", "it will become") — simply put, it's a currency that is worth what it is worth because we have decided to believe it is so. How else would you explain bitcoin having a value of $12,804 as I type this?

My biggest problem now is that I'm not imaginative enough to grasp all the ecosystems that blockchain will create — something that is now on my immediate to-do list.

iamgpe

PS: I may be looking at this all wrong, so any help in this regard would be appreciated.

What will happen over the next twenty years...

I have never been much of a futurist — I am more one to muddle through the muck of the moment and work through whatever comes my way. Recently though I've been thinking I should take a different tact because we're in the throws of dramatic change and with that, amazing opportunity. Maybe it's time for me to take pause and think about what the future may hold (and like a good surfer, look for a fine wave to catch). If you have ever attempted to surf you know the best wave is found in the green water — it's where you can catch the wave early, ride it longer, and have more fun.

This is something I am actively exploring and will be quick to ask about.

So I ask you, "What do you think will happen over the next twenty years?"

As I start to explore the green water of the future, here are some of the considerations that have resonated with me so far... be it as opportunities to explore, problems to anticipate, or simply considerations to prepare for (aka adapt to).

• Our natural environment will continue to change, and all that stuff we make will continue to spill over into it. 
• Our symbiosis with technology will continue to a point of physical change and it will blur the lines regarding what it is to be a human being.
• Artificial Intelligence will impact the definition of work and what people do.
• The established structures of trust, power, and government will be challenged by technology and by the evolving definition of work and how people find fulfilment.
• National identity will be displaced by city and corporate states.
• The "networks of connection" will challenge the ability of people to connect, relate, and trust at a personal level.
•  We will live longer, but probably not healthier.

As I say I am no futurist so this is a conversation I am eager to have with anyone who has some thoughts. Please let me know what you think (or know) — it's greatly appreciated.

At this point, all I know is we are on the cusp of substantial change, I want to be part of it, and a person can do amazing things in twenty years.

iamgpe