This is part 1 of a blog series on Bringing a Tokenized Economy to the Masses.

UPDATE: We have launched! Read the announcement here!

Ask some of the heavy hitting marketing gurus what it takes for mass adoption and popularization of a new technology, and their answers will likely align around bringing a new and compelling value to consumers. The masses don’t adopt new technology just because it’s a new technology. They do it because it brings something of real value to their lives, and it improves their ability to survive, thrive, and prosper.

It’s just like how Amazon changed the way we shop by expanding the products we ordered way beyond books. We don’t shop on Amazon just because it’s on the internet, or because it uses some great technology for supply chain inventory, or because it has an amazing user interface for ordering products. We use it because it’s super convenient! Because it saves us a trip to the store! Because it gives us time back in our day! Because it saves us the energy and resources to hunt down these same products in brick and mortar stores! Because it arrives at our front door in 2 days! Amazon provided a huge leap in value to their customers; they didn’t create a success story because of a technology upgrade. And because of that monumental leap in value, it has truly changed the way we do commerce online. In essence, it has changed the way we THINK about shopping. Perhaps blockchain DApp builders could take a page from Amazon’s book…. What if we could change the way people THINK about what is possible on the internet?

If we fast forward ourselves 20 years into the future, where the blockchain is a deeply entrenched and indisposable technology, what DOES that future look like? What is the most noticeable difference? I’m wagering a key difference between now and then is that the average Joe on the street understands, and is taking advantage of, a tokenized economy. They’re using tokens to promote themselves, they’re selling and trading tokens on exchanges, they’re using tokens to get deals on purchasing products, they’re buying fractional ownership in any number of concepts and projects, they’re using tokens’ voting features to commission or create new art or music (like this artist), they’re using tokens to receive VIP treatment or special access to their favorite personalities, they’re using tokens to either show or prove loyalty to companies or causes, and etc, etc, etc.

So what if the key to mass adoption was giving people a glimpse into that future, where they can really EXPERIENCE, firsthand, the value of blockchain tech? Where they can LIVE in a tokenized reality… today? As we all know, explaining the blockchain to them isn’t going to help one iota (pun intended). But when it clicks, and they fully comprehend the real value of a tokenized economy and what it could do for them, they’ll want it. They won’t care one bit how it works. (Wow, it’s fully transparent, and so secure! You mean it’s decentralized and on a public ledger too???). These details are not important to them… they just want to know how they, personally, can benefit.