By
Bena Ilyas
April 22nd, 2024
MIT Technology Review published an article, providing an overview of the recent history of blockchain and explaining why it will start to become mundane in 2019.
The blockchain technology is surrounded by endless discussions, as its popularity is increasing and adoption is becoming mass. However, some do not believe that blockchain is the technology of the future. Among such skeptics is MIT Technology Review, an independent magazine owned by the United States Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
On January 2, MIT Technology Review published an article, providing an overview of the recent history of blockchain and explaining why it will start to become mundane in 2019.
The article begins as follows:
“In 2017, blockchain technology was a revolution that was supposed to disrupt the global financial system. In 2018, it was a disappointment. In 2019, it will start to become mundane.”
According to MIT, blockchain will become ‘normal’ this year due to big corporations that have great plans. For example, Walmart, which has been testing a private blockchain system for years as a food supply tracker, will start using the system next year and has instructed its suppliers of leafy greens to join by September. Further, the article mentions such Wall Street players as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and investment giant Fidelity Investments.
“Meanwhile, on the cryptocurrency side, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange and one of the most influential players on Wall Street, plans to launch its own digital asset exchange in early 2019. And Fidelity Investments recently created a new company called Fidelity Digital Assets.”
MIT also pays attention to security and smart contracts. According to the article, improvements in smart contract technology will enable its use in multiple legal contexts, which will make the crypto adage “code is the law” one step closer to becoming an accepted reality.
A prime example of successful use of smart contracts is a startup Chainlink which teamed with academic researchers at Cornell to create the first “provably secure, decentralized oracle network.”
“Chainlink has partnered with a project called OpenLaw, which is developing simple smart-contract-based legal agreements (for example, an agreement between a worker and a company). And OpenLaw has partnered with Rocket Lawyer, a popular online service that lets users create their own legal documents. The idea behind the collaboration, according to Rocket Lawyer’s CEO, Charley Moore, is to use smart contracts to track the rights and obligations in legal agreements (like a freelance contract) on the blockchain and, once the contract’s conditions have been met, automate payments using cryptocurrency.”
Finally, MIT Technology Review considers state-backed cryptos, like Petro, and claims that the discussion around them will heat up, as “cash use continues to decline around the world and new payment technologies, including cryptocurrencies, improve”.
The article also points out that International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde supports central bank-backed cryptocurrencies (CBDCs) and believes that state-backed digital money “could reach more people, and offer better security, privacy, and consumer protection, than private cryptocurrencies or commercial payment technologies.”
All the examples provided by MIT Technology Review show that the crypto industry, constantly stirring up our interest, is laying the foundation toward mainstream adoption.