Off the ‘Chain
When Fiddy found his Bitcoin down the sofa the world pricked up their ears. Not least because this was 50 Cent, his star, seemingly on the wane was doing good business (in 2007, Coca-Cola purchased Glacéau, an exclusive beverage company he’d invested in for $4.1 billion): yes Fiddy was making bank and in the news. Bitcoin was something of a Brave New World for artists, musicians, DJs and talent; but how could this disruptive currency be realised for the mainstream? And what the hell is Blockchain? How can this stuff be tangible enough for the folk on the street, like me?
Moar Power
Blockchain was born out of a need for power. Specifically to power the almighty drain on resources that it takes to make just one transaction, let’s call it a block. When each block is completed it connects to another block which after a few times makes a chain. Sooooo, Blockchain, let’s call it a ledger, is a bunch of these transactions that start to become more tangible as a form of currency. Still here? Great.
Now, given that we live in a pretty much super crazy online world of safety hazards and issues connecting to security, it’s refreshing to understand how cryptocurrencies, I mean, that is what we’re talking about here, are encrypted. Because let’s face it, if they weren’t, what would be the value in having a personal wealth that’s available for the world to see and potentially download? Given the additional stress of encrypting the currency, its power requirements eventually evolved into needing complex mathematical formulae which were picked up by the tech community in return for payment in Bitcoin. We call these folks Miners.
WTF? How?
So is cryptocurrency really currency or is it just a long encrypted passcode for you to find it in the Blockchain? Both ideologies are true depending on where you are in the world of future fintech solutions. Provided you have the passcode, you can always see your currency, you can make and lose value with your currency and these days you can actually spend your hard (or easy) earned cryptocurrency on a variety of platforms and in some actual physical stores from hot dog stands and coffee shops to smartphone retailers. And, provided you have a public key, you can also earn cryptocurrency and have people wire cryptocurrency to you in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, information is available to the masses. The purpose of cryptocurrency and Blockchain is that it’s completely decentralised. If you compare that to say you high street banking outlet, you can rest assured that you can dip into your chosen currency’s Blockchain at any time and see how it’s working, not just for you, but for whomever designed it and needs it. This means that from medical to media, you can use a designed and developed currency to suit your community. We call this tokenisation.
Music makes the people come together… (yeah)
On that subject (and given our friend Fiddy), let’s look at the music community. It’s massive, that’s the first thing. But, did you know that various figures in a variety of genre are pulling together to tokenise the industry? By using Blockchain, Wu Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah has more recently launched CREAM and those in the know are aware of CREAM being a slang term for dollar dollar bills anyway. It makes sense. So imagine if with this currency you can support your band, invest in them, or the scene and be a part of a movement which already gives you so much joy? From gigs and concerts to merch, if you own some CREAM and you’ve invested in it, you can bet the Blockchain is doing good business. Or not, depending on the state of the community. Hell, Fiddy Cent made a reported $8 million from sales of Animal Ambition where he allowed fans to buy the album in Bitcoin. This early prototype, though not tokenisation, per se, has certainly provided a blueprint for more than just hotdogs, coffees and music. As things stand in 2018, and off the back of last year’s monumental mainstreaming of Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum it seems that everyone has a cool idea for cryptocurrencies. And for that they’re gonna need a bigger boat. So thank the universe for communities, eh?
Currently, communities communicate using Telegram, this too is a super-encrypted form of communication, a bit like Whatsapp, but moar. In Telegram you can talk, share, join like-minded groups and communities who support one another and fuel the constant creativity flowing from the Block to the Blockchain. You can find any of us there. See you down the front.
Remember to always take advice when investing and that the nature of all investments and financial activities means that funds can go down as well as up. Seek advice. I’m not affiliated with anyone and all opinions and tips are my own as a result of my activities and experiences.