In search of blockchain value
Where do we go from Bitcoin?
If you’re a newcomer to cryptocurrencies, like I am, the Bitcoin white paper is a good place to start; I wrote an articles that breaks it down here and another one on security here.
While there’s a diversity of perspective in this space, there is broad consensus that blockchain is more than just currencies. I’ve begun using the term Cryptoassets, after Chris Burniske, whose influenced my think on valuation (a future area I’d love to dive into).
Even so. I’m also curious to learn other ways of slicing the pie. Blockchain adoption draws comparison to the Internet (opinions vary, but I’ve heard we’re in the middle-to-late 90’s). We know the Internet is a set of protocols — rules to define how data is exchanged over a network. But what about blockchain protocols? How are they different from platforms or applications? No doubt, I’ll be referencing Jill Carlson’s post to make sense of the categories.
Then there’s cryptoeconomics. By nature, blockchain technologies are multi-disciplinary. I’m personally interested to see how a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) would work. From an organizational perspective, I’d want to know:
What would it feel like to work with or for one? How will it change organizational life as we know it?
Of course, initial coin offerings (ICOs) draw a lot of attention because it’s leveled the investment playing field. Unfortunately, as with any gold rush, there are scammers out there. How do we separate signal from noise?
From an investment perspective, I’m interested in:
Where is value in this the crypto space? How is it captured?
What does it look like now?
What will it look like in the future?
Along the way, I hope to share key learning and perspectives through plain language, thought we’ll get into the details from time to time. The goal is to explain simply, without being simplistic.
Understanding Ethereum is my next goal. Together, Bitcoin and Ethereum, as of January 26, 2018, are worth a combined 54% of the total market.
I’d argue familiarizing yourself with these two ecosystems provides a good foundation for answering the above questions.
