Blockchain Catch-up

This is Charles Brett’s start-of-the-week Enterprise Times ‘blockchain catch-up’ Week 11. Necessarily it is idiosyncratic and selective.

It is not intended to be comprehensive but does seek to highlight ‘Quick Takes’ on specific developments as well interesting pieces to read, a listing of some (not all) announcements/press releases and pointers to upcoming events.

Quick Takes – Charles Brett’s Blockchain Catch-up Week 11

NFTs are hot. So what are they?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a type of digital asset. They have exploded in popularity this year – with NFT artworks selling for millions of dollars and musicians (such as the Kings of Leon rock group) embracing them for their latest album.

An NFT is a digital asset that exists on a blockchain. The blockchain serves as a public ledger, allowing anyone to verify the asset’s authenticity and ownership. Unlike most digital items – which can be endlessly reproduced – each NFT has a unique digital signature, meaning it is one of a kind.

NFTs are usually bought with the cryptocurrency Ether or in dollars and the blockchain keeps a record of transactions. While anyone can view the NFTs, the buyer has the status of being the official owner – a kind of digital bragging rights.

Enthusiasts see NFTs as the future of ownership. All kinds of property – from event tickets to houses – will eventually have their ownership status tokenised in this way, these enthusiasts believe.

Quick Take: this Reuter’s explanation is useful background for those unclear what NFTs represent, or why anyone should be interested. It shows how blockchain is, or can become, an enabling technology.

The six biggest blockchain trends everyone should know about in 2021

Blockchain has been one of the most talked-about tech trends of the last few years. As with many other trends that were important before the pandemic hit, it didn’t make as many headlines in 2020 as it has done previously. But development has been ongoing and the year saw continued adoption of the technology throughout many industries and sectors. This Forbes assessment identifies six trends in 2021:

  • blockchain for vaccine tracking and distribution
  • the ongoing rise of enterprise blockchain
  • the rise of NFTs
  • Blockchain as-a-Service
  • blockchain expertise a highly tradeable skill
  • the cryptocurrency craziness continues – but stablecoins offer some sanctuary

Quick Take: none of these, in themselves, should be surprising. Yet this brief examination and reasoning is a worthwhile read.

7 pieces to read

Selected announcements/press releases/opinions

  • Why blockchain will be a gamechanger for manufacturers (opinion)
  • RubiX blockchain green initiative solves Bitcoin’s carbon emission problem (press release)
  • Survey says Americans could spend up to $40B from stimulus on Bitcoin (opinion/survey)
  • IBM Blockchain: Massimo Zanetti Beverage deploying Farmer Connect, running on IBM Blockchain (announcement)
  • Pakistani province to pilot crypto mining farms (announcement)
  • GraphLinq Protocol: the gateway to automated blockchain functionalities (press release)
  • Blockchain IoT market by component (hardware (IoT sensors and crypto-wallets), software and platform, and services), application (smart contract, security and asset tracking and management), organization size, vertical and region – Global Forecast to 2026 (announcement)
  • Global blockchain technology in healthcare market gaining momentum: projected to reach US$4.7B by 2027 (press release)
  • Eluvio LIVE provides artists with novel blockchain-based streaming and ticketing platform (press release)
  • Global shipping business network successfully incorporated to accelerate the digital transformation of global shipping and trade (press release)
  • Ledger launches Enterprise Solutions Division For institutions (press release).

Selected upcoming events

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