Having followed the meteoric surge and subsequent drop in cryptocurrency prices over the past couple of years, one might be tempted to conclude that the underlying technology, blockchain or other distributed ledgers, are to blame for the implosion of cryptocurrency pricing we are suddenly experiencing.
In reality, this could not be farther from the truth, as the underlying blockchain technology has proven to be highly reliable over the course of this rise and fall in crypto pricing. Other factors, such as change in investor sentiment (there was a bubble after all), tightening government regulation on ICOs and the inability of existing tokenized currencies to functionally replace fiat currencies for payments are all substantially to blame for the recent drops in prices of cryptocurrencies.
That said, the somewhat wild distraction of crypto pricing fluctuations does not impede the use of distributed ledger technology for building a new breed of decentralized applications for the enterprise. Not only has distributed ledger technology proven to be operationally solid, it enables huge benefits ranging from non-repudiation, new sharing economies outside the boundaries of organizations and a promise of a future where trusted networks and smart contracts can replace the costly intermediaries we rely on a regular basis.
Enter companies like Attestiv, that help solve the difficult problem of provenance of photos and media in a way that requires no forensic analysis or expertise, maintains chain of custody and helps reduce costs while lessening reliance on intermediaries. This is where the enterprise value of blockchain technology begins to shine. It’s enterprise solutions that promise to catapult distributed ledger technology from an intriguing payment system, that may or may not ultimately replace fiat currency, to a technology staple that will become mandatory for many organizations over the next several years.
While enterprise adoption will unlikely happen overnight, distributed ledger technology is ready today and quickly evolving into easily consumable applications for organizations of all sizes and even individuals. Is there more work to be done? You bet. Over the coming months, expect to see tremendous improvements in the scale and economics of distributed ledger networks and the co-application of new technologies such as AI.
It’s an exciting time and we invite you on this transformational journey that will make distributed ledger technology an IT revolution!
