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- 3 Practical Blockchain Use Cases for Business
Greetings!
Last week, we discussed How to Micro-Niche, Improve Your Focus & Leverage Blockchain as a One-Person Business. This week, we look at 3 practical blockchain use-cases for business, from nano-games to micro-subscriptions to Matrix-style skills transfer. Hopefully, they'll help you prepare better for the future!
Last week's premium newsletters:
1 - Nano Games
Gaming has become larger than Hollywood and the music industry combined (amounting to over $180 billion in 2021). Every 4 out of 5 households in the US own consoles, and 42% of Americans self-identify as gamers.
For the more recent crypto and NFT industries, gaming is a staple that has led to incredibly popular games like CryptoKitties (2017), Axie Infinity (2018), and CryptoFights (2020).
Since Bitcoin entered the scene in 2008, and subsequently "blockchain", they've been seen to be solutions seeking a problem. Ones that have undoubtedly had an impact. Understanding this is essential for aligning your own business with where the future is headed.
For example, imagine if every mobile app could be funded through an in-app nano-payment system. Some businesses are starting to use these models because the Play-2-Earn (P2E) model has not worked as well as they thought.
Gamification itself is also making its way into organizations and applications, so what if micro or nano-payments could aid in the incentives of users across platforms?
2 - Micro-Subscriptions
Micropayments are typically less than a dollar, and nanopayments are even tinier (e.g. 0.00001 Satoshis). Blockchain is just a public digital ledger (using a "chain of digital signatures").
But what are micropayment services (e.g. micro-subscriptions)? Some already exist and are divided into four categories: Prepaid, Post-paid, Collaborative, and Pay-As-You-Go. Users can upgrade to ongoing subscriptions if there's enough good content/services to continue using.
However, these services can sometimes rack up people's bills (think old return calls that charge per minute), and don't always make sense for every industry. Whether we like it or not, subscription services are everywhere.
If you were to use blockchain-based micropayments, you'd get charged even tinier fees - something as negligible as $0.00001 (so 'feels' free).
But now think about today's social media landscape. What if you could get paid per tweet, per view, or even per second? That's what blockchain can start to make a reality, increasing potential revenue streams.
Some exciting projects in the blockchain ecosystem already highlight some of these future possibilities (e.g. BitPost, Twetch, Streamanity).
Even in the Machine-Learning (ML) space, you can see the practical usage of per unit charges, based on usage:
Sadly, even the most popular blockchains of today (e.g., BTC, ETH, SOL) don't scale, suffer from high fees, or experience network outages. Meaning that a lot of what I've mentioned above, still can't run functionally on the most "popular" blockchains. But it will come.
3 - Skills Transfer
A scene from the film The Matrix
Here's a look at some of the most in-demand blockchain-related skills for the industry right now, and how you can start learning or applying those skills.
"Excellent" understanding of blockchain technology¹
Proficiency in at least one high-level programming language (e.g. C++, Golang, C#, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Java, Solidity sCrypt, Fourth)
Cryptography and security principles²
Experience with distributed systems and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networking
Knowledge of smart contracts
Familiarity with algorithm and data structures
UX design
Community management
Content marketing
Cross-disciplinary expertise³
Although this might sound like improbable (or even scary) science fiction, it's something that I predict will become reality in the future.
Now, if we assume that this will become a reality, how would blockchain technology play a role in it? When skills become transferrable instantly between individuals, we'll need a way to ensure that the data that's being transferred is as real/authentic/true as possible.
This is why the fight for a single, global blockchain is such a big deal.
Whichever blockchain the world ends up settling on - and it will need to be one if it is to work - then that will become our new "source of truth".
Action Steps
So I've just shared three different blockchain-based areas, which you can start thinking more about for your own business. However, what are some things you can do today to help position yourself even better for the future? Here are some ideas:
Sign-up for some blockchain-based games to see what's going on under the hood (e.g. CryptoFights, Haste Arcade, Axie Infinity)
Start writing on blockchain-based platforms (e.g. BitPost, Mirror, etc.)
Join AI-based art platforms to see how their per-use token models work (e.g. Dall-E 2, MidJourney, etc.)
Has any of the above sparked any ideas for your own business? Would love to hear them!
Until next time, remember: it will come.
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