During the great recession, I made a bold move and invested in stocks. My “logic” was that if the economy collapsed any more, we would have bigger problems, and money would mean very little anyway. Thankfully, young me lucked out. I’d bought a bunch of “too-big-to-fall” stocks, and while two of them went into bankruptcy, the rest recovered within the next year. My move paid off half my student loans, and was enough to be seed money for my clinic startup. But for as much as I benefited, far more people were hurt. People lost houses and businesses were forced to shut down; for many it really was the end of their world, and all because of other people’s decisions: those in power abused their powers and the public suffered for it.

I began hearing about bitcoin — and like most people, I blew it off as as something between a nerdy experiment, imaginary money, and an anti-government display born in a too-big-to-fail system that just was. Complaining wouldn’t do anything. Bitcoin wasn’t practical. It was just another “statement” and that was about as far as it would go. Plus, created by an anonymous individual? Sounded like a sure way to throw away your “real” money. (http://www.businessinsider.com/are-there-any-currencies-backed-by-gold-2012-3).

This, unfortunately, is how most the world still thinks about crypto. Imagine if you hadn’t used the internet in 10 years, how you would react if your grandfather said, “What’s facebook? Youtube? I’ve never heard of them. Are they part of that internet?”

For those who follow the development of blockchain technology and compare it to the current systems still being used, we react the same way you did when your grandfather said, “…that internet?”



Most commonly-used systems are, in fact, archaic and primitive.

As a doctor, I can tell you that some radiology labs still use faxes. Often, the most advanced technology available for patients to get their own records is by burning CDs.

The US Census Bureau conducted their last census by sending people door to door with pencil and paper.

It’s shocking that the Equifax hack compromised millions of people’s privacy, because a single company wasn’t responsible with information they gathered, without your permission (http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/09/pf/equifax-hack-senate-disclosure/index.html).

Why are banks still using wires, requiring special authorization and sometimes days (business days) for approval with outrageous fees, when any other secure data can be transferred in seconds — for nearly free?

These are some classic examples where technology and adoption are unbalanced. Are we really a modern society when our governments rely on human error and pencil and paper for accurate data, and yet at the same time, independent companies are already testing and refining self-driving cars (https://www.wired.com/story/guide-self-driving-cars/)? Immersive VR that can help cure paraplegics (https://qz.com/757516/paraplegics-are-learning-to-walk-again-with-virtual-reality/)? Trying to settle Mars (https://www.space.com/37200-read-elon-musk-spacex-mars-colony-plan.html)?

The reasons for this imbalance in capacity and adoption is that people in authority are either unaware, or resist better methods — or are afraid of the better methods. As far as the user is concerned, digital assets have already been adopted, traded, and used (the digital numbers on your paypal account counts, and so does your WoW sword) — we just need to feel secure in new systems and begin using them.



The truth is that users are already aware of the possibility of using their fingerprint instead of a pin, or a phone instead of cash/credit card (normalized in many countries), but integration and adoption often begins at the top.

To those of us enthusiastic about blockchain, it feels like someone is asking us to return to the days of written business correspondence and physical checks for something requiring prompt attention. Wouldn’t you insist on the better method (e-mail/venmo), too?



Just like all technology, huge strides have been made in short time, and blockchain is no longer “just” bitcoin.

Blockchain, in short, is technology that utilizes a method of encryption that is unhackable.

Suspend your disbelief for a second, and just consider the “what ifs” of this bold statement.

What if data could be tamper-proof. What would that mean for government transparency on national debt?

If data could be provably unique and authenticated, an entire supply chain and product handling verified, what would that mean for the entire business of counterfeits? For food standards (AMB)?

If you could control your data completely, what impact would that have for businesses like google and facebook?

If you could download all your medical files, control it entirely, and choose who gets to see the information, how would that affect you? What about health insurance run completely without an insurance company (MDS)?

You may not realize it, but blockchain technology is being integrated into everything, from government backed national cryptos, to major companies like amazon (https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/01/amazon-buys-crypto-domains-bitcoin-ethereum.html ) and square (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-31/square-rolls-out-bitcoin-trading-to-almost-all-cash-app-users) investing or integrating blockchain into their systems, mainstream stock markets adding crypto (Robinhood), e-commerce aggregation and standardization (EEE), vrbos and hotels run on blockchain (CGE), rfid tags run on blockchain being sewn into clothing or protecting products in stores (WTC).

With so much privacy on the line — cameras that are being developed smaller than a millimeter, everyday devices becoming “smart” by connecting to the internet and sending data to third parties, surveillance at every corner of your life online and off — blockchain is the answer to maintaining your privacy.

Blockchain is not anti-government, anti-bank, or illegal. Certainly, it can be used in those ways, just like cash can be used for criminal activities, or the internet can, but technology is nothing more than a method. The technology in itself isn’t good or evil. In this case, blockchain is a method of protection and absolute privacy (XMR).

There are other projects aiming at an entire smart economy built off of digital everything (NEO) provides the perfect blend of functionality and privacy for the individual, or for private businesses (ONT), while being government compliant. Basically, blockchain can provide the storage of information in a way that everyone can trust, but control remains in the hands of the party that deserves the information.

Today I want to share one of the most ambitious and incredible projects I’ve seen yet, and I’ve done a lot of research…way too much. It’s been my ‘full-time job’ for the last couple years, according to my partner.



This project is called Elastos (ELA), a project that first started 18 years ago, and is being led by Rong Chen, who’s credentials and connections stretch a mile long.

Rather than explaining how it Elastos works technically, since it can be complex for the non-techy, imagine that 90% of viruses are no longer capable of infecting any of your devices.

If you can’t see understand the value of this, imagine someone sat next to you in a coffee shop, intercepted your personal information, and the next thing you know you’re dealing with the consequences of identity theft for the next ten years (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-overtime-how-strangers-can-hack-the-phone-in-your-pocket/). Or, imagine if your new, self driving car got hacked and driven off a cliff because someone didn’t like you.

Elastos will stop this. In fact, it has already (18 years of work) built an entire OS and runtime (tech lingo for android/windows level stuff) and has partnered with SAIC motors, one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world; its OS is being used for the first self driving cars in China.

But that’s not all Elastos is doing.

Imagine how things could change if you’re an artist and every single transaction made on a product you created could give you immediate and verified payment:

A song you composed could be sold person to person, and every single time your song was bought or sold peer to peer or through a store or producer or movie, you got your 3%.

If a photo you took was used commercially, they had to pay your licensing fee to display it.

What if you could decide that only 10000 copies of your book existed, and people could buy and sell that book, but couldn’t pirate it — and the price rose because of demand, and every transaction netted royalties to you?

This scarcity of digital items, where you can’t just copy art, could be films, designs, screenplays, apples, or oranges.

This could be a world without “starving artists”…or at least a lot less of them.

It’s hard to guess what else Elastos is doing without knowing the details of the tech, but suffice to say that Elastos is working with several established partnerships to do even more:

Like letting your phone run with ease the most hardcore videogame that even now, your average computer can’t run.

Or giving you a reward for saving on electricity (Green Panda Energy), tracking seed supply (Origin Argitech),

Sharing files securely without the internet (Zapya),

Buying airline tickets and booking hotels with the same tokens as you got from saving electricity (Far Eastern Air), or from the royalties you get from selling your latest piece of digital art.

All this while maintaining your privacy, with transactions that are immediate and verifiable, while just using your devices like you always do with your favorite apps seamlessly integrated; you can still use your favorite android/iphone to access wechat or instagram or facebook.



No newly released project in blockchain has achieved anything close to what Elastos has already accomplished because, well, Elastos has written over 4 million lines of original source code, and have tens of millions of lines integrated through the nearly two decades of development.

You may be wondering why I’m telling you this if you don’t have to do anything different and the change is happening anyway — who cares?

I’m writing this because I’m excited about the future, and I think people should be aware of current events that could change the framework of their entire social orders.



I believe we are seeing the biggest shift in power, government and economic and social, that we have ever seen in our lifetimes, and while most people are oblivious, wars are happening and battles are being fought behind the scenes. 15–70 billion dollars per DAY is moved in crypto from January until now, and it’s only growing.

Governments that open their arms to this emerging technology are benefiting rapidly (http://fortune.com/2018/03/23/binance-bitcoin-exchange-cryptocurrency-malta/), and those who resist will chance falling behind (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/07/the-sec-made-it-clearer-that-securities-laws-apply-to-cryptocurrencies.html).



What if North Korea, hub of crypto hackers, became the next world super power (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/17/north-korea-hackers-linked-to-cryptocurrency-cyberattack-on-south-korea.html), wouldn’t that matter to everybody?

Of course there are opportunities to be had for those daring enough to consider investing in a digitalized smart economy and world. Investors (and scam artists), are flocking to the next big thing, and misinformation is rampant. But, even if you aren’t an investor, if you’ve read this far, you’re ahead of the game.

And while it’s true that my young self investing in a crashing market was just a lucky ignorant, fortune really does favor the bold.

To learn more about Elastos, I recommend starting here:

Kenneth Kao (Medium: @kennethkao_21220), has been a crypto enthusiast since 2016. He owns several of the mentioned cryptos, and has a significant portion of his investment locked up in the Elastos Long-Term Lockup program.