It’s no longer news, the hype and craze over blockchain technology. Since the public debut of Bitcoin, we have seen the technology being improved upon and its remarkable potentials consistently tapped into. Companies are searching for several ways the tech can be adopted to save them time and cost. No doubt, the technology has indeed

It’s no longer news, the hype and craze over blockchain technology. Since the public debut of Bitcoin, we have seen the technology being improved upon and its remarkable potentials consistently tapped into. Companies are searching for several ways the tech can be adopted to save them time and cost.

No doubt, the technology has indeed become a disruptive one, pervading several sectors, almost like an almighty solution. Blockchain came with its decentralization feature breaking the traditionally centralized status quo, eliminating the need for huge amounts of record-keeping, reducing costs, and providing transparency. It is certainly on the path to changing IT and its modus operandi.

The hype around this disruptive technology seems to be certainly worth it as several traditional centralized companies ranging from American Express Company to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have begun exploring this distributed ledger technology . This is not just because of the what the tech has to offer but also its wide applicability to different sectors ranging from finance and entertainment to travel and health. It’s only matter of time before the tech becomes a global standard.

A New Wave of Opportunities: Digital Identities and Assets

Blockchain technology paved the way for several blockchain startups and public blockchain platforms. Leveraging the technology, blockchain startups began doling out services ranging from decentralized trading to decentralized verification solutions. With this came the rise of digital assets solutions on the blockchain, where product information is digitally represented and stored on the blockchain. The immutability nature of the technology does not allow information stored on it to be altered or tampered with. Alongside this also came digital identity solutions where identities can be created on the blockchain with users having full control over their identities. Blockchain projects like LeBlock and Metaverse began offering these solutions. LeBlock, for instance, utilizes digital identities for players, where gamers can easily sign in to the game and build blocks to construct their own environments in a virtual LEGO-like world – which have their digital assets created on the blockchain. This is one of the use cases from the Metaverse project (a top 100 blockchain project on Coinmarketcap), which was the first public blockchain to integrate the concept of digital identities with the digital assets ecosystem. On the Metaverse platform, users can create their own Avatars as identities on the blockchain, choose a name, and then select an address to link the name. Avatars are unique, self-sovereign identity ledgers on the Metaverse blockchain and MST (Metaverse Smart Tokens) are trust-free, traceable, and immutable smart assets connected to those identities. With over 80,000 users, LeBlock is currently using Metaverse technology to build out its game platform, and the two companies have signed a long-term agreement to build cross chains to allow easier access for gamers.

The Need to Appraise

However, as several public blockchains continue to devise their own digital identity, assets, and smart contract functionalities, there is a need to evaluate whether these features are easily accessible on the platforms. It’s noteworthy to observe that some blockchain platforms have constituted more accessibility barriers than others. The NEO platform, for instance, is laden with system fees. The costs of creating assets and smart contracts on its platform are relatively high , hence making accessibility difficult for all. The ideal behind blockchain is to enable anyone irrespective of the resources they have to have full access to the network and participate therein. However, by raising costs, only limited players are allowed in, thus defeating the very purpose of the blockchain.

One of the accessibility barriers also posed is the need for programming knowledge. For instance, in order to utilize the Ethereum platform, users are required to understand Solidity, the code behind the platform. This makes it inconveniently complex for people to develop on this platform. Having to learn a new programming language just for the sake of building on the Ethereum platform can be a hassle. For small-time developers, such a task would be unnecessarily complex and time-consuming.

Lastly, another barrier to note is the cost of handling non-intrinsic digital identities on several of the public blockchains. Most of these public chains have to rely on third-party platforms to integrate with their blockchains in order to make such a functionality practical. This could lead to further complications such as high token prices and transaction fees, thus discouraging mainstream users to become part of the blockchain movement.

On the other hand, projects like Metaverse, with its SuperNova update, have contributed to easing of accessibility. The platform is a pioneer of digital identity and digital asset features and operates a low system fee, thus democratizing the concept of the blockchain to provide access to all. The platform also allows users to create Avatars (digital identities) and digital assets with just a few clicks. There is no need to go through the stress of learning complex languages or programming to utilize the platform.

As blockchain technology is continually embraced by the public, with more services available on the Metaverse platform, it is important to stay true to the ideal behind the technology – providing access to all and creating a decentralized future. A number of blockchain projects are maintaining this ideal and setting the pace. However, it remains to be seen if projects that follow suit will build their ecosystems around a decentralized future.