The hype about blockchain has just started picking up. And organizations are on the rush to adopt the technology. Some just want to add it to their year’s initiatives to conform to the growing blockchain culture.
Blockchain and bitcoin are fast becoming household names since their rise in December 2017. It seems to be the new catchphrase for top executives whenever the topic of digital transformation pops up. But the question has always been; is it worth investing in?
The truth is that at the moment, there is no definite answer. If you ask different people, you will certainly receive different opinions on the same technology, depending on which camp you ask; Blockchain proponents or opponents. Hence it’s better you decide for yourself.
A look at Blockchain’s short and rich history is a good place to start. Take a look at the blockchain cores and be in a better position to understand current trends. Get familiarized with the emergence and application of cryptocurrencies which took off at incredible speeds.
Today, we are briefly exploring Blockchain’s 4 stage evolution
The Ignore Stage
Just like any other disrupting technology, Blockchain’s origins were humble, not even worthy of the name underdog. In 2008 the technology was introduced to the world by Satoshi Nakamoto. Although nobody gave a hoot about it at the moment, it was the beginning of a financial revolution.
The mysterious founder published the crypto’s whitepaper and named it “Bitcoin: a peer to peer electronic cash system”. He also described the underlying principles that the currency would run on. At the time, only very few people saw a great idea.
Later, Don and Alex Tapscott described the system as an incorruptible ledger for economic transactions that can be used not only to record financial transactions but literally everything of value.
It was not until 2013 when bitcoin hit mainstream. And you can’t really blame people. The participation in bitcoin transactions required you to install complicated software with cryptographic operations and protocols. Why would they bother? They had a fiat currency that would do the same job.
The Laugh Stage
Prior to 2010, bitcoin had not been traded, only mined. It was thus impossible to know its monetary value. No one was even willing to buy. The coin was far from being adopted as foreign exchange and you couldn’t buy anything with BTC. What changed?
In a bitcoin forum, Florida Hanyecs a programmer offered to trade two large pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. The bitcoins were worth only $41 dollars at the time. This started the price fluctuation. Only nine months later, bitcoin’s value equaled that of a dollar. And that registered the first ever bitcoin milestone.
Now, since that time the number of altcoins have grown exponentially, each promising something better than bitcoin. However, most of them had some aspects of the original digital currency.
The Attack Stage
Bitcoin has struggled to maintain its reputation for a long time. And crypto exchange platforms were the loophole that attackers used. The biggest exchange site at the time was Mt GOx which was handling 70% of world crypto at that time in 2011.
The launch of Silk Road was another attacking factor. It is the first black market site for selling and buying items not legal like drugs, pirated software, etc. and their transactions were conducted in bitcoin.
The Win Stage
Despite massive attacks, even from the government, blockchain is attracting even the large scale enterprises like Microsoft, Intel etc. even startups are venturing into the open decentralized web space.
The once haters of blockchain like JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon are launching their own crypto for accelerated transactions and other benefits that come with it.