The Three Biggest Trends in Blockchain to Watch Out For in 2020
The blockchain community made great strides in 2019. However, experts project the blockchain network and community to experience its biggest year of growth and prosperity yet in 2020. A message to all: this is the best time to take advantage of the utility and value that blockchain related assets and applications have to offer. With that in mind, it is crucial for all those within the blockchain space to take heed of some of the more important and relevant trends in the community for the year to follow. Specifically, the three biggest trends in Blockchain to watch out for in 2020 are: (1) the rise in popularity and adoption of stablecoins; (2) an increased focus on achieving interoperability across blockchain networks; (3) and an increased demand for blockchain experts.
Rise in Popularity & Adoption of Stablecoins
Stablecoins, in short, are cryptocurrencies that are designed to minimize the volatility of the price of a cryptocurrency, backed by a pool of underlying collateral, comprised of some variation of “stable” assets. For example, a stablecoin can be pegged to a basket of cryptocurrencies, fiat money, or exchange-traded commodities.In the past, relatively few stablecoins were well-known by the general public and/or had surfaced to the main stage of cryptocurrency prominence, but as of late, the popularity of stablecoins — all throughout the world — has given rise to various popular and widely used stablecoins. Moreover, the introduction of Facebook’s very own stablecoin, Libra, has alerted the general public to the functionality, relevance, and utility of stablecoins in today’s society. According to BBVA (a prominent U.S. Bank Holding Company): “One driving force for using stablecoins is the introduction of Facebook’s cryptocurrency “Libra” in 2020, even with all the challenges facing this new cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook and the shrinking circle of partners.” Stablecoins are, in general, relatively safer (more “stable”) to use than traditional cryptocurrencies, and so, both public and institutional interest in them continues to rise and will follow this trend in 2020.
Increased Focus on Achieving Interoperability Across Blockchain Networks
Another trend within the blockchain space to watch out for in 2020 is an increased focus on achieving interoperability across blockchain networks. Interoperability, in short, is the ability of blockchain networks to recognize and interact with one another. Thus, with interoperability, a user on one blockchain network can freely share his/her information across other blockchain networks (and vice versa) — making the transfer of information and cryptocurrency more easily and with even more scalability. For example, if a user wants to use Bitcoin in their crypto wallet to make a purchase on an Ethereum chain, they would not be able to do so. Instead, they would have to exchange their Bitcoin into Ethereum, or a similar cryptocurrency first, and then spend it from that chain or network.
As it stands, this is one of the biggest challenges to widespread blockchain adoption by both the mass public and larger institutions. It makes it relatively difficult for newcomers to use cryptocurrencies — largely in part because the issues of interoperability have yet to be solved by most engineers. Each blockchain network offers its own distinct combination of software designs as it pertains to security, privacy, efficiency, and other issues — and because of these differences, networks cannot overlap in many ways. In simpler terms, this means that you can’t use Bitcoin on the Ethereum network, and vice versa. And thus, engineers are focusing on achieving interoperability across blockchain networks as to promote the widespread adoption and usage of different cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks by the general public who are otherwise put off by the difficult of using different networks.
Moreover, for these users, the need to utilize cryptocurrencies and different blockchain-based assets interchangeably with others that come from different networks continues to grow stronger and stronger by day. According to Lucas Mearian, a senior reporter for Computer World:
“As blockchain ledgers proliferate in the corporate world, enterprises will need to ensure their flavor of distributed ledger can communicate with other platforms deployed by potential business partners. The result: interoperability is expected to take center stage next year. Businesses should be “extremely” concerned about interoperability and integration.”
To that point, many experts in the field believe that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will never truly break through to the general public without having achieved interoperability. And thus, the importance of achieving interoperability in 2020 by software engineers cannot be stressed enough.
Increased Demand for Blockchain Experts
With the increase of blockchain applications, blockchain integrated software, and cryptocurrencies, the need for more experts in the field will assuredly become apparent in 2020. To that point, increased focus on generating/building stablecoins and achieving interoperability between blockchain networks will certainly require increased manpower, and thus, an increased demand for blockchain related expertise. And thus, 2020 can prove profitable for those who devote their time to learning and acquiring blockchain related skills.
The Role of Identity in Achieving These Goals
Often little discussed is the role that identity can play in promoting the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain assets, and thus building upon the trends set out above for 2020. Specifically, by adding identity to the blockchain network and making it easier for everyone to use, send, and receive cryptocurrencies and assets on the blockchain network, users will be encouraged to adopt said platforms, as they will no longer be deterred by complex, lengthy, and difficult to use key addresses. Stibits makes it simple: by associating users’ public key with a user profile, Stibits has eliminated the problem of lengthy addresses, all the while making the process of sending and receiving money easy and simple for all. Users simply enter the name, email address, or phone number of the destined recipient — from there, funds are quickly transferred. User contact information is always verified, and in that sense, users are assured that they are exchanging currency with a real, desired third-party. To that point, every transaction will generate a new crypto address for added safety and privacy. And thus, Stibits is on the cutting edge of financial service technology within the blockchain sector — thankfully making the transfer of cryptocurrencies faster, easier, and safer for the rest of us, and helping promote the leading trends in the blockchain sector for 2020.
