Združitev: blockchain izgubi svoj strupen sloves (Gilbert Verdian)

Mnoga podjetja, ki bi jim blockchain koristila, se ga izogibajo. Njegov ogljični odtis, stroški in povezave z nestanovitnimi kriptovalutami so prispevali k temu, da ima blockchain strupen sloves, ki se ga ni mogel otresti, podjetja pa se ga niso hotela dotakniti.

That was until ‘the Merge’. This – now widely used – term references the restructure of the world’s largest programmable blockchain: Ethereum. Put simply, this September the cryptography driving the system has been switched from proof of work (PoW) to proof
of stake (PoS). This essentially replaced the huge, energy-intensive computers that were the network’s core validators, with individuals and companies. It is expected to reduce the energy consumption of Ethereum by 99% and reduce the global use of energy by
0.02% po besedah ​​Vitalika Buterina, kar bistveno izboljša njegovo trajnost. Surge, epilog združitve, bo sčasoma povečal zmogljivost in znižal pristojbine v omrežju.

To je očitno pomemben korak k uvedbi Ethereuma v mainstream in označuje razvoj tehnologije blockchain. Toda kaj pomeni izboljšan ugled blockchaina
res pomeni za institucionalno uporabo?

Press coverage has focused on more widespread crypto usage; however, the real impact will be on the institutional side – particularly within financial services. Now the stage is set for innovations, it is likely that parts of the industry may turn towards
decentralised infrastructure. Blockchain can offer safe and secure transaction processing at a fraction of the cost, particularly when compared to the enormous expense and burden of today’s systems.

This has never been more relevant. The digital asset market is maturing significantly just as its traditional counterpart enters a period of turmoil and uncertainty. As the world hurtles towards another recession, businesses will be examining how to save
money and cut costs.  A greener, more cost-efficient blockchain could form part of the answer and reduce the institution’s huge IT expenditures.

If implemented correctly, blockchain could save billions in infrastructure and associated IT costs. Rather than paying for service level agreements, data centres, cloud hosting and other services, financial institutions can and will leverage blockchain infrastructure
at a fraction of the cost of running the same transactions in-house. Cost efficiencies aside, tokenisation could improve several areas within asset management specifically, such as issuance, exchange and servicing as well as simplify processes involving a
host of intermediaries. Potential benefits include improved access to, and personalisation of, investment solutions.

Za zasebni kapital bi lahko veriga blokov omogočila delno lastništvo in decentralizirana sredstva, kar ne bo samo povečalo preglednosti, ampak ustvarilo večjo prožnost glede likvidnosti za tisto, kar je prej lahko bilo le dolgoročne, zaklenjene naložbe.

However, there is still a missing piece of the puzzle to be considered: interoperability. For true mainstream adoption of blockchain to occur within businesses, users need to be able to transact across multiple networks. Currently, it is not particularly
easy to share information from one blockchain to another. To put this into context, if interoperability within email communication had never been achieved, Outlook users wouldn’t be able to send messages to Gmail accounts and vice versa.

Tudi če bi zaradi združitve prišlo do širokega sprejetja, vse prednosti tehnologije za podjetja ne bodo izkoriščene, dokler različne verige blokov – vključno z Ethereumom – ne bodo mogle učinkovito komunicirati med seboj.