2015 was the year of blockchain hype, 2016 is the key year for blockchain development: Keep your feet on the ground

There is no doubt that blockchain is the "hot word" this year, as many media used the title "2015 - the year of blockchain". For many years, Bitcoin technology has been lingering in the circles of hackers, geeks and scientists, but now it has stood out from this small circle and attracted the attention of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and traditional media. This distributed ledger technology without the need for middlemen may have a profound impact on enterprises and may even affect the society we live in.

Bitcoin has experienced the Mt. Gox incident, extreme price fluctuations, and the government has issued warnings against Bitcoin from time to time. Blockchain does not seem to be criticized as much as Bitcoin. The most powerful proof is the establishment of various blockchain startups and the large amount of positive media coverage of them, and of course the huge influx of funds. What has attracted people's attention is the R3 blockchain alliance composed of banks from all over the world.

But does this mean that blockchain technology has entered the mainstream market? On the surface, the adoption of blockchain technology is indeed accelerating, but we cannot underestimate the intangible human and sociological factors that are crucial to the large-scale adoption of new technologies. There is undoubtedly a lot of work to be done.

Stop the hype about blockchain

All the attention on blockchain technology in recent times has led to a new technology "gold rush" and brought in a lot of "gold diggers". However, looking at the technology hype cycle, blockchain technology will experience many twists and turns and even big failures before we see significant and sustainable success.

A large part of the reason is that people have a big misunderstanding of blockchain technology and have placed too high expectations on blockchain technology in the short term. Although blockchain technology will eventually have a profound impact on society, it will not happen overnight.

Lack of insight and intangible but real problems (such as regulatory issues) will hinder various innovative technologies from realizing their advantages. There are countless research reports on blockchain technology, but paper talk will not have any practical effect. We need to start creating blockchain application solutions to solve real-world problems.

So in 2016, I hope people will stop talking about it and start building blockchain solutions.

First, we need to do two things:

1. We must change the way we look at blockchain technology

Stop thinking that blockchain will provide off-the-shelf consumer-facing solutions. If anything, it is infrastructure. Like any infrastructure, it is only visible when it fails. It should provide a standard that is robust, interoperable, and open, creating potential solutions that we have not yet imagined.

This also means that we need to think about blockchain solutions with an open mind and in a broader context. Although the solutions need to be targeted, blockchain as an infrastructure does need to meet some basic principles, or in other words: we must first understand why we should use blockchain.

2. Bringing developers and (non-technical) business people together

While an infrastructure perspective is useful for technology and its applications, it does not guarantee that we will create useful solutions. Therefore, we need to better understand how blockchain technology can add value. As history has shown, we need a high level of accessibility. This means moving away from the initial low-level technical stuff to create high-level abstractions (i.e. better tools) that are easy to understand and use.

In short, it’s about bringing developers and (non-technical) business people together. Given that these two groups have very different mindsets, it’s important to understand both sides’ perspectives on blockchain.

1. Developers need to accept that business people may not fully understand the technology, and also accept that business people may not care about some concepts in blockchain (which are important to developers). Try to understand their needs as much as possible, because you need them.

2. Business people should have a deep understanding of blockchain technology. Improving your understanding will help you find business opportunities. Don't try to control this technology. Share blockchain infrastructure and focus on strategic opportunities. This is where your advantage lies.

Outlook for 2016

We are about to enter a new year, and 2016 may be a critical stage in the development of blockchain technology. People working in this industry should remember this key point: whether blockchain will be like mobile technology or like Internet technology, it is useless, it has not become itself, and ultimately we need to let it become itself.

The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can get blockchain out of the hype phase and actually build blockchain solutions.

Stop arguing about block size, stop arguing about private vs. public blockchains, and focus on developing valuable, convenient, and reliable real-world solutions. Not because these debates are boring or unimportant, but when we start building solutions for a decentralized, open, interoperable, accessible, secure, and sustainable future, these issues will be resolved.

Therefore, it is time for “blockchain” to gradually fade into the background and let “blockchain solutions” take the stage.

Original article: https://medium.com/block-chain/why-blockchain-must-die-in-2016-e992774c03b4#.m4245yddu
By Bart Suichies
Compiled by: printemps
Source: Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/2015-2016)