Blockchain needs a killer use case, and authentication is cold-blooded

The pursuing nonfiction is an op-ed by Tyler Adams, CEO & Co-Founder astatine COZ.

For the past 2 years, crypto developers and task superior person been hyper-focused connected supporting infrastructure projects to the detriment of consumer-facing applications. If you look astir this industry, you volition spot a plethora of tools for developers to integrate privateness features, decentralize information, and standard platforms, but a deficiency of applications wherever these tools tin beryllium used. We’re not beating the allegations that blockchain is simply a solution successful hunt of a problem.

It doesn’t person to beryllium this way. Crypto and the underlying blockchain exertion person the imaginable to revolutionize the mode we interact online and successful the existent world. In particular, blockchain arsenic an authentication instrumentality could code a increasing situation successful the marketplace for user goods, providing an immutable root of information to verify information.

More folks successful the abstraction conscionable request this benignant of integration with the carnal world, what I would telephone Non-Fungible Items – NFIs. 

Cheer Up, the Crypto Winter Is Over

The collapse of the NFT market and the failure of the metaverse to instrumentality off, combined with the onset of the crypto winter, caused galore developers to retreat from consumer-facing applications and alternatively absorption connected improving decentralized infrastructure.

Keep successful mind, successful this aforesaid twelvemonth media sum of the FTX bankruptcy severely damaged the estimation of the industry. It didn’t consciousness similar a bully clip to onboard mainstream users. Instead, developers enactment their heads down and focused connected tackling issues similar scalability, idiosyncratic experience, and security. 

Now we person seen improvements connected each these fronts. Zero Knowledge (ZK) rollups person improved velocity and ratio connected furniture 1 protocols, relationship abstraction has enabled a web2-like idiosyncratic experience, and determination was a decline successful hacks from Q1 to Q2 this year.

Not to mention, Bitcoin terms has reached an all-time high, bolstered this twelvemonth by Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF support and mainstream involvement successful stablecoins and real-world plus tokenization. There is nary amended clip for builders of decentralized applications to scope retired to web2 users and businesses. We conscionable request to show that blockchain is much than conscionable a level for speculative assets.

Counterfeiting Crisis

As a transparent and immutable root of truth, blockchain tin beryllium utilized arsenic a instrumentality to authenticate accusation successful the integer and carnal world. The second-hand apparel marketplace unsocial was worthy astir $230 million this year, with the pre-owned collectibles marketplace estimated to beryllium worthy $134 billion alone. One would expect that arsenic the manufacture for second-hand goods grows, from Ebay to Depop, The Real Real, and beyond, opportunities for counterfeiting are growing.

Indeed, the marketplace for counterfeit goods is acceptable to beryllium worthy astir $2 trillion by the extremity of the decade. Imagine if determination was an onchain authentication solution that could verify the root of goods. This could unlock unprecedented opportunities to integrate blockchain successful the manner and luxury goods market. 

In the integer realm, the maturation of decentralized concern (DeFi) means much radical are trading assets without centralized actors. While privateness is simply a halfway worth of DeFi, determination needs to beryllium a method of individuality verification to support against scams. Once again, blockchain authentication tools tin beryllium utilized here. 

Blockchain and AI tin beryllium integrated to amended methods of verification. Currently, authentication is done by individuals. But AI enables representation and signifier recognition, and entity detection astatine a larger scale. Blockchain tin past beryllium utilized to store accusation collected by AI tools to supply a unafraid record. 

Enter NFIs

NFIs bring real-world inferior to NFT technology. By linking a carnal plus cryptographically to a “digital twin” connected the blockchain, NFIs tin beryllium utilized arsenic a almighty authentication tool. For example, if you were creating a luxury watch, you could embed a backstage cryptographic cardinal that could beryllium utilized to verify the root of the ticker successful lawsuit it makes its mode onto the second-hand market.

Why would brands put successful this technology? Because it brings greater worth to the plus if purchasers tin warrant returns connected the second-hand market. This isn’t conscionable constricted to watches – shoes, jewelry, and collectibles could each beryllium verified onchain.

Keep successful caput that manner and luxury brands haven’t fixed up connected NFTs entirely. 9dcc’s NFT-linked manner collection debuted astatine Paris Fashion Week this twelvemonth with designs inspired by integer innovation. Younger generations are besides much acrophobic with the biology interaction of manufacturing. Seeing brands embracing the circular system done blockchain-enabled authentication could beryllium beneficial for their marketing. 

Blockchain’s Killer Application

For excessively long, developers successful the crypto manufacture person looked inward, focusing connected problems that bash not interest the wide population. The manufacture is maturing and we request to clasp usage cases beyond finance.

Authentication is simply a premier country wherever blockchain tin supply a amended solution than existing technology. The crypto wintertime is over, now’s the clip to telephone backmost the normies.

The station Blockchain needs a slayer usage case, and authentication is cold-blooded appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.