The longer a specific blockchain is in use, the longer its chain gets, leading to an increased need for storage infrastructure across all of its full network nodes that store a copy of the chain. One of the concerns is the scalability problem among Blockchain Technologies. While looking at the sunny side of cutting edge technology is motivating and gives a sense of adventure, it’s important to gander into some of the limitations that have been pointed out by tech experts.
So while this new exciting technology is shiny new and unexplored territory, it‘s important to resist the urge to use it blindly and look carefully at each potential use case individually to determine if blockchain is the right tool or infrastructure for the job or if alternatives suffice, like a distributed encrypted database, for example. The old saying comes to mind: ”If all you have is a hammer – everything else looks like a nail“. Technology Enthusiasts in the industry, the Public Sector and Academics are working on use cases – sometimes even where they don’t make any sense.
Looking at some of the current alternative Blockchain technology solutions that have breached out beyond crypto-currency, are “Ethereum”, where it uses Smart Contracts (programs stored on the blockchain which can trigger transactions based on conditions) ”STEEM“, focusing on a Social Network based blockchain, “Factom”, which uses blockchain for document management, or “Golem”, where everybody can share computing power with others in return for valuable tokens. But while Bitcoin has been a notable example to how Blockchain technology can be implemented, there are tech leaders around the world, who are looking at the applications beyond Bitcoin. Currently, its market capitalization is at around 40 billion dollars. So, will this just be yet another emerging new technology that fails to fulfill the lofty expectations and will end up as a solution looking for a problem?īitcoin – the digital currency and most prominent blockchain project – was the first project to implement a blockchain as a way to represent, store and transact monetary value. On the other hand it is currently listed on the top of Gartners Hype Cycle in the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” and the next stop might very well be the ”Trough of Disillusionment“. Diskutieren Sie mit!īlockchain is often mentioned as a disruptive innovation that will dramatically change the way we do transactions on the internet and many people claim that it will at least revolutionize the financial industry (and potentially the rest of the world as well). Blogreihe ✽igitale Disruption«: Technologien und Anwendungsfelder mit Disruptionspotenzial: ✽as Bessere ist des Guten größter Feind« – frei nach diesem alten Sprichwort von Voltaire lädt das Fraunhofer IAO zu einer Blogreihe ein, in der unsere Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler disruptive Trends und Technologien vorstellen und deren Potenziale für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft aufzeigen.