Blockchain: the Over Glorified Term

We cannot deny the rise of blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrency's hype over the last 3-5 years. The so-called decentralized, secure and tamper-proof technology has become one of the hottest buzzword in professional and business world, alongside terms such as Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence and Additive Manufacturing.

The market movement of cryptocurrency changed many people's life. Some became instant millionaire, some went broke overnight. The sexiness of "Blockchain" can be attributed to this disruptive movement as more and more entities now set their eyes to this technology, believing the claim that this will revolutionize the world like before.

But is it true?

If you browse Youtube, you can find a number of videos mentioning the potential application of Blockchain technology. From medics, notary to election. There are even games and social media based on Blockchain platform. Such as Cryptokitties by Ethereum and Steemit. There was even a news back in early 2018 mentioning that Sierra Leone using Blockchain technology for its election. Even though it was denied by the government recently.

I have no doubt of Blockchain's potential, especially with the smart contract technology and the recently mentioned Blockchain 3.0. The speedy development of this technology only confirms the number of brains working towards major adoption of this high potential technology. However, nowadays the term Blockchain is kind of abused as mere marketing jargon to attract investors and younger customers.

Blockchain for medical applications. Blockchain and smart contract to run a notary. Blockchain for music. Wait, what? Blockchain for travelling. Ummm, can you please elaborate?

I was interviewed by this MBA student last week. He wanted to know my opinion about the effect of Blockchain towards the change of business model of a start-up. After answering his question, we had a small talk and he told me that there are already many start-ups utilizing the power of Blockchain. For example, those start-ups utilizing Blockchain for travelling, music, culinary, even fitness!

I would not be surprised if they can actually utilize the technology for such unthinkable applications. The problem is that when I saw their websites, or when I tried to talk with one of the founders, they didn't even understand the concept of Blockchain except saying some vague sentences with "decentralized", "revolutionary", or "disruptive technology".

Other sad fact: Blockchain, as well as other popular words are used by politicians to promote themselves. Do they even know the meaning of those words? I doubt so

I want to make a little comparison with my study field: materials science. If there is a new, promising materials said to be able to replace older materials in certain applications, let's say automotive or aviation, the rule of thumb is that that material will need 10-20 years before becoming commercially available. It will need several dozens steps or researches, optimization of properties, feasibility study, legal regulation, until business analysis. Blockchain has already been there almost a decade now, but the "serious research" has not been there for even 5 years, yet many people want to commercialize it! (Or at least using it as if it is already ready commercially).

Another comparison is in medical field. Certain drug or medication needs to be tested on mice several stages, then move on to primates before testing it on humans. In my opinion, Blockchain is still on tested on mice stage, yet people just flaunt this word freely. Not being pessimistic, but we need to be careful as we still don't know what we don't know about this technology and its implication.

Humanity is not ready for full adoption of Blockchain yet

There are estimated 2-3 millions of bitcoin lost forever due to the user "forgot" the password of their wallets. And unlike most social media, you cannot easily recover them when you forget your password. I have encountered several cases recently. For example, the old lady in front of me at the train station created a congestion in check in line because she forgot the password of her travel apps needed for checking in. She had to call the customer service and so on and so on. There is no saving in that condition if we were to adopt Blockchain fully (at least with our current blockchain understanding and system).

Okay, maybe it's not apple to apple if we compare the progress of Blockchain technology with materials science or medicine. Let us try to compare it with other digital technologies. Smart phones? Facebook? Even for them, about a decade was what they need to be as massively adopted as now, with many people still complaining, asking questions, or getting help from the "central" i.e Customer Service. We are just not ready for decentralization yet. At least in most of our life's aspects.

I would be happier to find or meet people that run a Blockchain research center instead of a start-ups with Blockchain only as marketing jargon, or worse, abusing the term Blockchain for ICOs that (statistically) more than 75% scam

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