Some time ago, I wrote an article about how Bitcoin’s breakthrough, the blockchain, was driving developers to create systems that were previously considered impossible. While, at that time, my hopes were focused primarily on Ethereum, which is still very exciting, recent developments have made it clear that other systems have the potential to deliver on much of Ethereum’s promise in a much shorter time-frame.

Coin Brief’s Ali Amin discussed the potential of this type of advancement months ago, with his articles about “Bit-thereum“, which is now becoming a very real possibility. Whether it is a system that is built on top of Bitcoin, such as Counterparty, one that works alongside it, such as Open Bazaar, or one that starts a completely new blockchain, such as Ethereum, we are sure to see some amazing advancements in the near future.

Not only are the well known systems and platforms, which I previously mentioned, driving innovation, but an entire ecosystem of new projects is springing up around the idea of blockchain-based decentralization. To start, lets take a look at one that has been getting a lot of attention lately, Open Bazaar.