Interoperability - The Missing Link

There are many different aspects of Steem that need to be worked on, improved, tweaked, fixed and built, in order for it to become the massive success we all expect it to reach somewhere down the line. Although working, this system is far from perfect. I think that is something most of us can agree on. On the other hand, what most won't be able to agree on is exactly what should be done first, how and most importantly, who will do the actual work? Some boast about marketing, others would like to tweak the RC's needed for performing different actions, some dislike the curating culture so they want to see curation rewards increased, then there are those who want to conceive ways to eliminate bid bots out of the game and a whole bunch of other people with their ideas on what should be done in order to fix up this chain of blocks and push it in the right direction.

While those are all fine ideas, today I was struck by some divine intuition and I came up with what I think is the single most important thing we can do now, to massively increase the adoption of both the Steem blockchain and currency going forward into the future.

This is not something I usually do as most of you who follow me around already know. I'm not that kind of a guy to completely dismiss everyone else to push some crazy idea that only works in my head but I actually think that this is the holy grail. I believe this to be true so greatly that today, I will be audacious enough to state that what I'm about to share with you is the singular key to unlocking the true potential of STEEM. You might think otherwise and I'm not claiming to be Satoshi here, don't get me wrong on that but I intuitively believe this to be the most important thing to think about at the current state of blocks.

If you got another perspective, please share it in the comment section and don't hesitate to try and shatter my belief or contradict my logic. Constructive criticism is something I will always greatly value and respect, especially over the falsely positive feedback most gravitate towards.

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I think of Steem and any other blockchain as a city in an intangible world which is just as real as the real world we live in. A city undergoing constant and never-ending construction. Infrastructure is being built, stores, buildings, offices, malls and whatnot, then there is a certain amount of people living and interacting with this virtual city and most importantly, there are groups of highly skilled teams and individuals working on creating businesses and building up this city.

In this world, in a parallel dimension we like to call the internet, the decentralized division is where there are thousands of such cities (blockchains) currently undergoing a great deal of construction, wealth creation and shifting the tides of the future for the entire population.

Sadly, a lot of tribalism is overshadowing the common sense of certain citizens and it is keeping them stuck in scarcity while they could enjoy abundance. They respect, love and adore only the city they live in (heavily invest in) and they will do whatever it takes to take down other cities in favor of their city gaining a one up on the City Market Cap.

Unknowingly, they are contributing to their destruction as they are so stuck in this fake scarcity of the real world that they can't perceive the abundance contained within this new intangible world which is literally at the tips of our fingertips.

The way to unlock this abundance is to open our borders and start building roads connecting cities together.

So, instead of completely closing ourselves out, sticking with one coin, one blockchain for life, like those crazy ass bitcoin maximalists, we should rather work on interoperability with other blockchains. We should morph, change and integrate the ability of one blockchain to interact, communicate and exchange value with other blockchains.

Let me give you a couple of quick examples of what I have in mind.

For example, Brave browser (amongst many other cool features) allows content creators to receive tips in form of crypto from their viewers which is awesome, but Steem content creators currently don't have the ability to become verified content creators to start utilizing the amazing potential Brave has to offer, which is a shame. Both Brave and Steem would have a mighty benefit from intertwining these two tight-knit communities. Brave would get massive exposure to the biggest community of crypto enthusiasts, while Steemians would get another potential stream of income.

This is just one positive thing out of many, that would come out of building roads connecting the city of Brave to Steem city. A lot more can be done to maximize the benefits and usability of this expansion yet currently there are currently no talks (from my knowledge) between the heads of Stinc and the guys at Brave.

Another great example is Latium a crypto gig economy connecting employers with employees in the intangible decentralized world. What's cool about it is that on there, users have the ability to store, trade and send multiple cryptocurrencies instantly, at no cost whatsoever.

Obviously, the missing link here is that Steem is not one of the couple supported coins on Latium. Pity! If they were to open up their roads and accept Steem in their city, the benefits they would get from it would be instantaneous. Driven by a trending article on the implementation, quite a couple of Steemians would visit the city of Latium to see what's it all about. Similarly, Lathiums would notice the listing and they would imediately take a quick trip to Steem city to see if it's worth their time.

There is so much untapped potential in connecting instead of closing in that it's staggering to me seeing this massive amount of tribalism and closed borders between blockchains. Some communities could 10x their members in a heartbeat if only they opened up their borders and started building roads connecting them with other blockchains, outside their closed little ecosystem. The ones that don't go down this route will inevitably wither away while the ones that do will end up enjoying in abundance.

Interoperability, connection and collaboration between blockchains is the only way to successfully move forward to into the future.

Without it we are stuck in our little city while we could be exploring the world and connecting with individuals across this digital globe.

In my opinion, without this, not a single blockchain will ever reach its true potential.

That's why I'm glad to see @steemmonsters realized this truth, acted upon it and they are now evolving into Splinterlands in order to expand and reach Tron city. While those who don't understand the implications of this move might not support it, I'm 100% behind @aggroed and @yabapmatt in their effort to bring SteemMonsters to another level by tapping into one of the most prominent communities out there. I would love to see them somehow connect to Ethereum, Brave (ads) and any other blockchain because I know that it is going to be the single most important factor in the successful business of they are building.

To conclude, I would like to end on this message for anyone building anything on Steem, or any other blockchain for that matter:

Connect and interoperate with other chains of blocks or be stomped over by those who do.