From unknown, to renowned, to unknown again, blockchain technology’s past year has been tumultuous. Optimism abounded at the beginning of 2018. A technological revolution was happening. However, the outcome of that revolution was much more sobering. Today, in the aftermath of a ravaged digital assets market, which is the most publicly recognized use of blockchain technology, we are left with more questions than before. While the debate over blockchain’s future rages on, we must ponder what purpose decentralization serves and whether it is truly necessary?
This answer is clearly demonstrated by global historical trends. It’s been shown that highly valuable systems must be decentralized. Whether politically decentralized via democracy, or economically decentralized via capitalism, the historical trend shows clearly that decentralization by way of the majority is the only way of preventing tyranny by the minority. The questions that remain after the recent crypto-crash are not whether decentralization is valuable, but rather what industries and systems should be decentralized, and what technological hurdles must still be overcome? The answers to these questions will define the coming age of Decentralized Ledger Technologies (DLTs), transform the digital landscape, and guide waves of entrepreneurs and investors.
These questions serve as a guide for the upcoming BOLD Awards: Boldest Blockchain Platform. The projects that will define the coming era of DLTs will offer solutions that transform struggling industries, solve the existing challenges plaguing DLTs, and innovate effectively. The following projects are unique in their visions, approaches, and technological innovations.
Chainspace – Chainspace offers unique approaches to privacy, scalability, and reliability. Chainspace makes use of a state shared infrastructure, distributing processes to independent shards within the
Cartesi – One challenge of decentralized technology is balancing between the reliability of on-chain transactions and the cost-effectiveness of off-chain ones. Take Ethereum for example, while computations performed by the Ethereum network are incredibly reliable, they are impractically
Dfinity – Dfinity is a blockchain platform tackling central questions such as how to safely and effectively reach consensus based on randomness. Randomness ultimately ensures that the process is unpredictable and thus, trustworthy. Dfinity’s use of a random beacon and its threshold signature
As we advance towards a more decentralized future, exceptional innovations and talented leaders will guide the way. Projects will need to navigate a complicated landscape of technological tradeoffs, obstinate established industries, and scalability challenges. Bold approaches will be needed to overcome these obstacles.
Entries to the BOLD Awards are being accepted now in 12 categories, including Boldest Blockchain Platform. The power of the crowd through public voting from February 8 will reduce entries to a shortlist of five in each category, at which point an international panel of judges will be involved in selecting the category winners. Awards will be presented at a ceremony orgnised by our event partner H-FARM in Venice, Italy, on 5 April 2019. Please take a look, enter your project if you’ve worked on one (or more), and be ready to vote for your favorites from February 8.
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