Digital Steel
How Native Smart Contract Tokens will Power the new Digital Economy
One of the many powerful aspects of bitcoin is that it serves as a store-of-value. Bitcoin has been referred to as digital gold. In keeping with the analogy, if bitcoin is digital gold, then smart contract enabled cryptocurrencies such as SOL and ETH are the equivalent of digital steel.
In the physical world, steel is an element that is used as a major component for infrastructure, buildings, ships, airplanes, automobiles and other important technologies in society. In the same way, in the digital world, cryptocurrencies with smart contracts allow developers to build infrastructure on top of a blockchain.
However, not all blockchains are designed the same or have the same purpose. For example, BTC’s original purpose was to be a long-term non-inflationary currency, separate from the traditional banking system, that operated on a uncensorable decentralized network.
In 2015 a second generation of blockchains emerged with the launch of Ethereum mainnet. People such as Vitalik Buterin introduced the innovation of smart contracts: autonomous computer programs that can be programmed to eliminate the need for financial intermediaries, which are often expensive and burdensome.
The launch of the Ethereum cryptonetwork was the birth of Web3. Now cryptonetworks like Solana hold the promise of performance which rivals the traditional internet. The resource that allows smart contract blockchain platforms to have utility is their native token, e.g. ETH or SOL, which I refer to as digital steel.
For developers, smart contract blockchains are akin to public goods: they are open, permissionless computational platforms that allow anyone to build software applications. The native token provides access to that raw computational power. Blockchains are in many ways public versions of private cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud or Microsoft’s Azure.
Blockchain technology is a new paradigm shift in serverless cloud computing, and in a few years time we can see blockchains such as Solana being the preferred platform choice for developers over the likes of AWS. Blockchains offer developers a more cost effective way to build software applications. Furthermore blockchain technology allows developers to experiment with new and evolving business models that could create greater value over traditional Web2 ecommerce models. Moreover, according to the Developer Report conducted by venture capital firm Electric Capital; crypto developers have grown 39% per year since the launch of Ethereum in 2015.
Blockchain is a disruptive force and will revolutionize every aspect of the digital economy. In order to maximize the utility of every American, it’s critical for the United States of America to lead blockchain technology.
President Trump has vowed on the campaign trail that America will be the crypto capital of the world. In a highly politicized environment, it’s imperative that crypto is non-partisan. The future of America depends on both the Left and the Right standing together. A brief glance at history shows how the US lost the steel industry to China, and we don’t want to see a future that allows crypto to be lost as well.
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