Reality Check

Just came across an interesting read with an alternative point of view on the fanfare surrounding blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

The article dissects the perceived uses of blockchain and highlights the impracticality of its current functionality in respect to existing systems in these areas :

• Payments and banking
• Freedom to transact without government supervision
• Micropayments and bank-to-bank transfers
• "Smart" contracts
• Distributed storage,computing and messaging
• Stock issuance
• Authenticity verification

And the author puts it succinctly towards the end,​ 

"Blockchain enthusiasts often act as if the hard part is getting money from A to B or keeping a record of what happened. In each case, moving money and recording the transaction is actually the cheap, easy, highly-automated part of a much more complex system."

Perhaps the key to developing the killer app for blockchain lies with really understanding how things are being done today and what the end user truly values.