Why We Believe in Blockchain

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed a trend in the recent Hivergent posts. We’ve been critical of mega-ICOs that looked to raise too much money, we’ve argued that the blockchain market is about to enter a multi-year crash and we’ve generally been very pessimistic about many new blockchain projects.

In short, a new reader might believe that I’m a cynic blockchain technology. On some level, they might be right. I’ve spent a lot of time criticizing the industry and not much time at all on what really matters… where the industry is going.

Today, I’d like to dedicate this post to the inevitable good we believe blockchain will bring to the world and shine a light on the things that ultimately matter.

Blockchain is about True Ownership

For years, we have accepted that when you give someone your information, someone besides you had the ability to change that information as they see fit. Google, Facebook, Amazon, Walmart, Chase, Bank of America and many more have root access to your private information. This was the price of doing business with the old technology.

Blockchain has fundamentally changed that assumption. With the launch of Bitcoin, it become possible for a team of software engineers to architect, design, deploy and maintain a piece of software without ever gaining control of their user’s data. The only people who could touch that information was the user and the user alone.

This is and will be the groundbreaking paradigm shift of the next software generation. It started with a cryptocurrency on a decentralized ledger, but as the technology matures, more and more applications will begin to build with this philosophy in mind and change the relationship with our software providers.

There are Many Great People Working in Blockchain

If you get most of your news about blockchain online through sources like Reddit, Twitter or even coindesk, chances are you have a jaded view of the people in the blockchain space. I know in my experience online I’ve had many, many poor interactions with people. I can leave you feeling like the only people that matter are ones who have hyper inflated egos and only care about price.

However, when you get a chance to step into the real world and meet the people working in blockchain, you get a very different view. The people actually making a difference in this space are very humble, are incredibly aware of the risks and downfalls that are available and are ultimately working for good. It’s one thing to posture on your social media page about which coin you think is going to pump that day, very different to meet someone who’s given their career to this nascent field and are exposed to downside.

If you’re jaded from the online interactions, I found that just reaching out to knowledgeable people via email or private message can lead to a better experience. When you’re in the hivemind of reddit, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But individuals often are much kinder and way more given than you would expect.

The Best is Yet To Come

Back in the mid-90’s, some people became aware of the massive effect the internet was going to have on the world. Some people dedicated their whole careers to making great internet based products (back when calling it ‘the world wide web’ was cool). However, we fail to forget that back then, cutting edge websites looked like this:

And this:

And this:

(that last one still exists here, btw)

When the internet was being hyped and built in the 90’s, it was ugly… not nearly as useful in a world with smart phones and a whole market of qualified developers with years of experience building web applications. It was only after years of refinement that the web became what it is today, to the point where I’m able to use my browser as my word processes, publisher and communication medium.

Blockchain today is that same ugly duckling that the internet was years ago. It’s not easy to develop for and is most certainly overhyped for the value it can provide today. But given the time, care and love it deserves, we can turn it into something revolutionary.

That is what we believe about blockhain and it’s community. We will criticizen where we see a need for improvement, but make no mistake. Hivergent is 100% behind making great blockchain organizations and making a better community.