You said a blokkachaynnnee??

Yes, but it’s spelled Blockchain. Blockchain is essentially the technology behind decentralization. It provides us with a transparent ledger of all information within a system. Why is this important? Well if you don’t like other people being in control of your data, money, assets, and resources. Then you may find this technology to be your “knight in shining armor”. If you don’t mind large corporations prancing about, frivolously spending your wealth, and selling your info so that they can personally profit off of you… Then by all means stick with centralization!

The discovery of this technology has created a whole new platform for innovation. An astonishing amount of the worlds brightest minds are dedicating themselves to unraveling and applying this incredible technology. In many ways, it is like the early stages of the internet (the wild west of innovation and brilliant thinkers). In this article I am going to outline a few projects that are using blockchain technology to create a more fair and harmonious world. I will give a basic description of what they are doing, how they are doing it, and what it means for us (the users).

All aboard the BLOCKTRAIN (blockchain+train=blocktrain??? Idk…) *CHOOP CHOOP*

^Satoshi Nakamoto?^

Bitcoin

A little bit of history

Bitcoin is the creator of all things decentralized. You probably heard about this bad boy in 2011 when the price hit $1200 and everybody was shitting their britches. The potential of capitalizing on monetary profits is usually what snags people’s attention. However, the history of bitcoin is one of the most fascinating things about it because… We don’t even rightly know who created it (talk about decentralized)! There has been some speculation about the man behind the mission, BUT nothing has been confirmed. Here is what we know.

On October 31st 2008, In the midst of the financial crisis, a mysterious man named “Satoshi Nakamoto” released a paper outlining the principles behind the idea of bitcoin. This paper is called the bitcoin whitepaper. In it, he presents the basic building blocks for a decentralized currency that is in and of itself complete and rare. Brilliant minds around the world immediately began to see the value of bitcoin and started working on it.

It is the virtual equivalent of gold. Bitcoin comes into existence through a process called “mining”. Now, this isn’t your traditional, sweating your ass off, pickaxe mining... This is an ultra high tech version of that. Here is a little analogy to help you comprehend this whole process…

Imagine a gold mine... But instead of gold, you are mining for algorithms… and instead of a pickaxe, you are using a computer. Each time you discover some gold (find the answer to an algorithm), that piece of gold (bitcoin) gets released to the world to be used as a currency. When the mining process is complete, there will be 21 million bitcoins.

What does it do?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. In order to understand what cryptocurrency is, we have to understand what currency is. So let’s start off with some strange insights about currency in general. Think about this..

If I have $1, but I am the only person in the world, does that dollar have any value? No, you minus well burn it for warmth. Now, say there are 2 people in the world. Me and Chris. If I have $1, and Chris will accept that dollar in exchange for a slice of bread. Then, that dollar becomes valuable. So in essence "money" is the faith that the collective majority of people have in it. Pretty strange, huh?

The reason cryptocurrency is revolutionary, in my opinion, is because it is backed by 1 exact number. That exact number is always attached to that 1 unit of currency. No matter what happens to that unit of currency, it will always have the same number attached to it. Plus, anybody can see where that unit is at any given time and it is instantly transferable ANYWHERE in the world, without the need for a middleman (bank).

What does this mean for you?

Well, if you decide to use cryptocurrencies (like bitcoin) instead of fiat currency it can provide you with a number of benefits…

1. You can instantly transfer your money ANYWHERE in the world without having to use a middleman. That’s powerful. Just take a moment to absorb what that means………………………………… Ok, times up!

2. Since copies of the cryptocurrency ledger are stored on a vast number of computers throughout the entire world, the only way for money to be lost, is if the entire internet went down and all of the computers in the world were completely destroyed. If that were to happen… Well, there would be some other things that we would need to be worrying about, other than money.

3. Nobody can put restrictions on what you want to purchase. Buy whatever the hell you want… An airplane, some marijuana, send some money to WikiLeaks, help your sweet ole grandma pay for her medical bills. WHATEVER you want. Almost instantly.

4. It’s super cool. Instead of using traditional currency that is made from poor trees, you can start using virtual currencies like bitcoin, steem, ether, ripple, and lisk. Don’t those sounds super sweet? Maybe I’m just crazy… Moving on!

^Vitalik Buterin (creator of Ethereum) lookin like a modern day Atlas^

Ethereum

The name is as magical as the project itself... Think of Ethereum as an ecosystem of tools that can be used to construct the framework of a decentralized and transparent world. Ethereum’s intentions are far reaching and extremely ambitious, but the implications of its potential success are truly awe-inspiring.

What does it do?

What doesn't it do would be an easier question to answer. However, I am going to focus on 3 main tools that exist within the Ethereum ecosystem. There are many other things involved, but these are what I consider to be the essential innovations of Ethereum.

1. Solidity: Ethereum has its own built in programming language called “Solidity”. This programming language is unique in that it uses the concept of “smart contracts” to execute actions. A smart contract is essentially an unbreakable agreement between a party of people, in which neither party needs to trust the other because, once the contract is implemented, it is automatically executed upon completion. It’s a tool to build trust-less, peer to peer, agreements.

2. Ether: Ether is the cryptocurrency built into the Ethereum platform. Like bitcoin, ether is a cryptocurrency. Unlike bitcoin, ethereum is creating an ecosystem in which the currency can flourish. This ecosystem will consist of decentralized applications in which you can spend your ether. Ether also has a much faster transaction time than bitcoin.

3. Turing complete: This is great. This means that the system is based on a mathematical model of a hypothetical computation. What? It can be used to determine a result from a variable set of inputs with a predefined set of rules. That means that with enough time and computing power… You can figure out anything using Ethereum. From astrophysical calculations to sequencing DNA… Ethereum is knocking at the door of all things important.

What does this mean for you?

S.i.m.p.l.i.f.i.c.a.t.i.o.n. Ethereum is simplifying the process of creating decentralized applications. Which makes it interesting because in a sense it’s not just saying "here's a product", it's saying "imagine the things that can be achieved with this product". The Ethereum ecosystem could be used to create amazing things that haven’t even been imagined yet. This is important because it persuades developers to use the platform.

The creation of decentralized apps is what will make this ecosystem bloom. With all of this technical mumbo-jumbo bursting from my fingertips, it seems important to simplify things a bit. Although Ethereum seems difficult to comprehend, the important thing to remember is that you don’t need to fully understand it in order for it to improve your life. Just like most people who use the internet don’t understand how it works, but it has improved their lives in some way. I believe Ethereum will have this same kind of impact but perhaps on a larger scale…

It's decentralized, transparent, and potentially very empowering for the users. Users? That means YOU. You youser, you.

Open Bazaar

Open bazaar is a decentralized marketplace… Now, I don't know about you… but this sounds like a place that I would like to do my shopping (Who wants to shop through a place called Amazon? Where there are literally jungles of regulation and monkeys that snag some of your hard earned cash whenever you purchase something). Open bazaar not only sounds a lot easier, it is a lot easier.

How does it work?

You can sell your stuff directly to your customer with NO charge from the company providing the service… You download a free program on your computer and you can instantly start searching through troves of goods throughout the world. Open Bazaar uses Bitcoin as its main payment method, but I am assuming that it will add other cryptocurrencies in the future.

What does this mean for you?

The people using the network OWN the network. This is a tool that can be used by anybody to safely and securely sell your goods directly to those who want to purchase them. With no transaction fees and no middleman slithering around snaking some of the profits. Get it? Got it? Good.

^Ned and Dan (The creators of steemit) lookin real slick^

Steemit

Steemit is a decentralized economic system based on a social media platform. Complete with Its own built in cryptocurrency called Steem. The value of these steem tokens are pegged to the US dollar. The steemit platform has its own "retirement system" called steem power, and its own "stock market" in which you can buy, sell, and trade steem for other currencies.

How does it work?

I’m going to assume that you already know how the social media side of things works (since you are reading this on a social media website) so I’m going to explain how the financial side of this system works, and you can fill in the blanks.

I am going to use another gold mine analogy here because… Well because it works!

Imagine a gold mine... Where there are guys working hard all day, digging for gold. Except, at the end of the day, the gold gets distributed where the community deems is most appropriate.

This is essentially what Steemit is. Except the gold is a cryptocurrency called "Steem" and it is appropriated by the community through the "up-voting" of quality content.

What does this mean for you?

You mean… I can get paid to post quality content?? YES!!! Not only that, but it democratizes information. If you post something and somebody else finds your information valuable, you get financially rewarded for it. Nobody is profiting off of selling your information to advertisers. There is nobody to censor your information, and there is a community that revolves around learning from each-other and rewarding each-other for participating in the collective knowledge of the whole. It takes the corporate influence out of social media and gives the power of exchanging information back to the people… AND financially incentivizes you to do it. Pretty groovy stuff.

In Conclusion

These are just a few of the blockchain applications and platforms that are being used right now to help propagate a fairer future for us all. I believe we are witnessing/participating in the most fundamentally important revolution that has ever taken place in all of recorded history. That’s a heavy thing to say, I know, BUT the potential here is absolutely incredible and awe-inspiring. The internet has paved a path and blockchain technology has begun to create the platform of what could become the most incredible, connected, thriving era that humanity has ever seen.

Or we could just continue mucking about in the shit encrusted systems that are only in place to benefit the few at the top of the ladder. The choice is up to us.

Thank you to all of the programmers who have dedicated themselves to these projects! And as always, Thanks for reading!