It is difficult to talk about the future of the internet without mentioning blockchain.
That is because the new technology is showing immense potential and, indeed, is already in a significant way shaping how the future internet will look.
The major technology companies understand this fact, which is evident in their actions. For example, in March 2017, IBM launched a blockchain enterprise platform, and in February 2022, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) announced its plans to bring Web3 and blockchain-based products to the market.
Other major tech companies that have set up divisions and acquired blockchain startups include Dell, Microsoft, and Meta. They all want to be leaders in innovating using blockchain networks and therefore give themselves a competitive edge in the emerging, more decentralized digital world.
Many more companies, small businesses, institutions, and even governments are recognizing that it is not about the future of blockchain technology but the future of the internet.
Blockchain is a technology through which independent computers on the internet, by running specific software, can form a consensus on particular states or facts. The technology also enables the computers to execute tasks as a unit, such as recording the facts they agree upon on a shared ledger.
The computers on the peer-to-peer network do not require a central authority such as a server to guide their interaction or facilitate the consensus process and transactions they undertake.
A protocol (a system of rules) in the core software each runs is enough. The protocol guides them on how to interact with one another, objectively agree on facts, and execute tasks.
In essence, the blockchain peer-to-peer network functions as a supercomputer. However, while it can perform most of the tasks that a powerful server does, it provides advantages, including the following:
The list of applications that can run and execute on the blockchain grows with time.
The blockchain market is already worth over 1 trillion dollars and the value is tied to different blockchain applications. The most successful blockchain applications fall into the following categories:
The first blockchain ever, the Bitcoin blockchain, was designed to offer a financial service. It supports a digital currency that functions as a store of value, medium of exchange, and a unit of account — a form of money that some refer to as “digital gold”.
Hundreds of other blockchains with digital currencies as their primary applications have been launched after Bitcoin.
Digital currencies on the blockchain are known as cryptocurrencies. The name comes from them using cryptography as a critical component of their design and function.
Cryptocurrencies are token-based as opposed to account-based. That means money as a cryptocurrency can exist online without being attached to a person's real-world identity. It can simply be established as a unit on a public ledger.
Money in online banking is account-based as it always exists while attached to the real-world identity of a natural or legal person.
Blockchain technology has evolved over time and now offers more financial services besides digital currencies. The financial services offered on the blockchain are known as decentralized finance (DeFi).
The list of DeFi applications on the blockchain include decentralized exchanges (DEX), lending platforms, stablecoins, insurance and asset management.
Much of the additional financial services are possible thanks to smart contracts.
A smart contract is an ‘if/when……then…’ code or a program a user uploads on the blockchain and instructs the peer-to-peer network to execute specific tasks when certain predetermined conditions are met.
An example of a simple smart contract could be something like ‘if/when the price hits $100 000, then sell my bitcoins and deposit the proceeds into this wallet….’
The blockchains designed before 2015 could not accommodate and run smart contracts.
Ethereum was the first major blockchain to have that capability. Today, the smart contract application drives much of the innovation on the blockchain, including the building of enterprise systems.
The blockchains that have come after Ethereum, such as the Casper Network, have expanded the capacity and capability of smart contracts. In particular, they have made smart contracts more dynamic through robust oracle systems and high upgradability.
However, that is done while safeguarding the immutability of the smart contract. The dynamism is not arbitrary. The users of the contract can see within the meta data, to what extent or how the contract will potentially change in the future. With Casper, an easy way to think about this feature is to say: “The past is immutable, but the future is unwritten.”
The invention of smart contracts also expanded the capability of the blockchain to offer more financial services. Most of the financial services offered today, thanks to smart contracts, fall into the decentralized finance (DeFi) category.
DeFi refers to an application on the blockchain that offers financial services with all its processes being managed by a smart contract. The DeFi applications include decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as Uniswap, lending platforms such as Compound Finance, and Stablecoins such as DAI or USDC.
The blockchain is being used to create efficient identification systems that also protect users' privacy online.
The information systems in web2 collect and store huge amounts of user data in vulnerable silos. Besides, those who collect and store this data often misuse it, especially because a lot of money can be made from it.
The blockchain allows users to have full control over the data they need to share to get a service. The data is always encrypted before being stored on the blockchain, and the user controls access to it through a private key.
An early attempt to use blockchain to manage personal identification is the Known Traveller Digital Identity (KTDI) system. The platform is being built by a consortium that includes the governments of Canada and the Netherlands alongside Air Canada, KLM, Royal Dutch, World Economic Forum, Accenture, and several international airports.
Through the KTDI system, travelers will have all their data, including their digitized passports, stored as a file on the blockchain. Whenever they are required to identify themselves while traveling, all they need to do is to give limited but sufficient access to their third-party verified data on the blockchain using a private key through their biometrics.
Indeed, using this same service, hotels, Airbnb, and other service providers could easily create customized keys to rooms, homes, and other facilities attached to the guest's identity and only work during the stay. Of course, that will be done with the user's express permission.
The validity of elections is always in question in many countries around the world. Transparency is the biggest concern, especially regarding who votes and how the votes are tallied.
Blockchain technology offers a mechanism to verify who votes and allows the public to observe in real-time as the votes automatically count.
The mechanism of a voting system on the blockchain has already been tested numerous times. Mostly this has been done through what is known as Decentralized Anonymous Organizations (DAOs).
A DAO is an organization where stakeholders are involved in all critical decision-making through a vote on the blockchain. Numerous blockchain projects have a DAO as their governance structure.
Building a national voting system based on the DAO structure will not be difficult. Of course, the system will benefit from other technologies such as those around biometrics.
The use of blockchain systems is likely to spread in more industries and offer more solutions to various problems. The technology is likely to offer new products, services, and solutions that we cannot even imagine today.
With that stated, the following are some of the industries that are likely to see increased use of blockchain in the future:
Most of the financial services on the blockchain, starting with cryptocurrencies, are still used by a very tiny section of the population. According to data from Statista, less than 1% of the global population has ever used a blockchain service.
Blockchain solutions will become more mainstream, especially with more people and companies getting involved in this emerging technology.
Meanwhile, most of the models are not yet well refined. For example, insurance on a decentralized application is an idea that is still hugely work in progress. That is likely to change with time.
A Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) are digital assets stored and managed on the blockchain. The digital asset could be an image, video, audio, in-game asset, or even virtual real estate.
At this point, most NFTs are digital assets with sentimental value, such as digital drawings of apes and birds. However, going into the future, NFTs with functional value will become more common.
For example, in March 2022, luxury supercar manufacturer McLaren announced plans to mint some of their models into NFTs through a partnership with metaverse infrastructure platform InfiniteWorld.
Though not clear at the moment, the virtual supercars on the blockchain could have the functionalities of real cars. The NFTs could be used for entertainment in the metaverse environment.
Another area that is likely to benefit from blockchain in the immediate future is intellectual property management.
The technology can improve transparency and help with unifying the patent systems globally.
The supply chain systems can get improved transparency, security, and high interconnectedness from the blockchain.
The technology could also secure product provenance. According to a report by the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, the US alone loses over $600 billion annually to the counterfeit industry.
A robust, transparent, and secure global supply chain system on the blockchain will make it easier for producers, distributors, and consumers to track goods from production to the local store on a shared ledger.
Several startups around the world are already building supply chain system solutions on the blockchain.
The blockchain offers incredible options for cloud storage. In particular, it makes it possible for individuals and small businesses to provide storage and get paid.
Storj, Filecoin, and Sia are some cloud storage platforms on decentralized networks. Files on these platforms are sharded and mirrored.
Sharding means files are split and the pieces sent to different computers around the world so that no one storage provider has an entire file. This is an additional layer of security on top of the public-private key encryption.
On the other hand, mirroring means each file bit has multiple copies stored in different locations, which means if one computer is offline, the owner of the file can still get the entire file when they need it.
The file owner can reconstruct the file and read it using their private key. That means to everyone else who doesn't have access to the private key, the file is just random numbers and letters.
Nevertheless, such services have front ends similar to those of conventional cloud storage platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox.
Blockchain is likely to replace the centralized server as the standard backend to almost all online systems. That is because it offers more security and increased privacy for the individual user, but more importantly, it provides efficiency and transparency.
Besides being a more sustainable backend, different industries could benefit from blockchain in unique ways. For example, the music industry will have more monetization business models, in particular, based on minting music as NFTs on the blockchain.
Likewise, the gaming industry will benefit by giving users ownership of the assets they acquire and accumulate in the gaming environments.
Blockchain's evolution in different industries still unmatches the regulatory environment. That is changing with time. El Salvador and the Central Africa Republic have passed laws to recognize bitcoin as legal tender in the recent past. More countries are likely to follow.
More importantly, with growing adoption and awareness, regulators around the world are soon likely to pass laws that make the use of other blockchain applications possible in the future of blockchain technology.
For example, while it is easy to mint a land title into an NFT on the blockchain so that the asset can easily and more securely be traded, it cannot function until local laws, specifically, laws guiding land registry, have been changed.
The Casper network is in the generation of blockchains that have been built with close attention to the shortcomings of the first and second generation of blockchains, such as hampered scalability and low speed.
The following are the reasons why any business entity or entrepreneur should consider picking Casper Blockchain as the backend for their smart contracts, systems, and processes:
The blockchain is designed to make it easy for enterprise users to plugin and start using. That includes making it possible to write smart contracts using programming languages and tools that you are already familiar with.
The major obstacle that stood in the way of first and second generation blockchains is the difficulty in scaling the foundational architecture to meet the growing demand and needs. Casper Network is designed to expand seamlessly to meet emerging needs.
The developers of the Casper Core protocol recognized that it is important to create room to accommodate changes, including unforeseeable ones, in systems created using smart contracts.
Consequently, smart contracts on the Casper Network are dynamic through robust oracle networks and high upgradability that does not risk system credibility.
If you are a developer or business considering using blockchain to improve your processes and systems, contact Casper Labs today to get the help you need to get started. You can also apply for a grant to help you build your dApp at Devxdao.
