Why is blockchain literacy important?

Even though I’ve been deeply involved in the tech industry for decades, I can also step back and understand how biassed and evangelistic this sounds (and it also is). Regardless, there are genuine reasons why it matters to move blockchain from this “new trend” label and start adopting it sooner rather than later.

Genie is out of the bottle

To begin with, I truly mean sooner rather than later. I really believe that there is no turning back from this technology; it is simply a matter of how quickly we can begin to really explore it and see how it will change the software and enterprise landscape. The question is really, when and in which shape or form blockchain will become part of our everyday lives, rather than if.

The underlying technology behind these chains will keep iterating and evolving, some will go, some will stay. The community will gather around fewer and fewer predominant voices which will in time dictate the first real lasting accepted standards.

Going back to the kickstart of the the internet, the TCP/IP protocol competed with tenths of other protocols, for many years, until it became widely adopted as the backbone of today’s internet. When the world was accepting enough of this, the web began it’s very long journey until it became what it is today.

All literacy matters

Knowledge is power, and these subjects are no different. Here are just a few reasons why blockchain literacy is becoming more and more relevant:

We could be moving faster towards a better future

Without going into all the benefits the Blockchain technology could bring to society in general, there are many potential problems to solve by “simply” embracing blockchain as a valid solution. From banking to governance, we can now address chronic hurdles in a way that hasn’t been possible until now.

The longer blockchain retains this “novelty” status, the less time we are spending actually implementing solutions for so many structural problems of today’s society.

Society is afraid of anything new

As they say, “no news is good news”. Society tends to be very embracing but also weary of any major changes as these can often impact our lives in ways we weren’t expecting. Especially when we don’t understand what is happening.

Information is key to decide weather one should embrace or fight a different future for ourselves.

There are many opportunities to be discovered

Thinking back to the birth of the World Wide Web, we couldn’t remotely grasp all the possibilities that it would bring us, nor all the industries that would rise in parallel to it.

Blockchain is no different. Since it carries with it very simple but unique features, it has the potential to really disrupt how technology intersects with our day to day lives. With it, many new investment and business opportunities are already popping up, and we haven’t even scratched the surface.

Hype can lead to mistakes

Speaking against the “vibe” of this text, any new trend can lead to good or bad outcomes. Harnessing the potential in the correct and informed way is the only thing one can do to avoid being a victim in favor of being successful.

Final Thoughts

If you only remember one thing from this, let it be that information is crucial in deciding how or where we should be moving as a society. With that, I am convinced that blockchain will be adopted by an increasing number of industries, and the more informed we are, the better we will be able to use this technology.