Crypto and Use Cases
Sep 1, 2022 . 4 min read . 100 views
To understand crypto and potential use cases we need to look at another tech first and see how the core set of technological innovations generated a meaningful set of use cases over time.
Tech progression and use cases
Mobile Technology
- User Experience Innovation
- A new physical form of interacting with computers (small touch screens)
- New sensory forms of interacting with computers (audio, kinetic, visual w/ cameras)
- Mobility, you weren’t tethered to an office anymore
- Applications:
- Uber w. mobile computers
- Snapchat and Instagram w. mobile cameras
- Spotify/Audible w. mobile audio
- Apple health and other fitness apps with the kinetic sensors
Internet Technology
- Backend Innovation
- Computers can now talk to each other. You don’t need to be physically in front of some computer to utilize a process that’s living on it.
- Applications:
- Everything on the internet as we know it
What Crypto Technology Does
Crypto and “Web3” are all about blockchain tech. And what a blockchain lets you do is run perpetual decentralized applications.
- Crypto is a backend innovation similar to the internet.
- Very different from mobile or computers which were Frontend or User Experience innovations.
- The frontend has not caught up yet.
Current & Future web3 use cases
Now that we understand the crypto innovation. We can look at the current use cases of the core tech i.e Perpetual Decentralized Applications(PDAs).
These applications are live as long as the blockchain is running.
You do not have to depend on a central authority to ensure the tech is working.
Following are a few broad buckets of use cases and many applications can be developed across sectors/industries.
All the use cases fall into either of the categories:
- Category 1: Could not be done w/o blockchain
- Category 2: Shittier without blockchain tech
Category 1: Could not be done w/o blockchain
Digital Gold
- Digital version of a hard monetary asset based on the fixed supply cap
- Similar to Gold ETF’s/Mutual funds
- Anyone in the world can buy it.
- Completely digital and Trustless
- Current applications: Bitcoin
Decentralized Lending & Borrowing
- Instant, Trustless and Permissionless
- Take a loan against an on-chan asset
- Current applications: Borrowing against your crypto assets
Single Sign On
- Sign on to any website with a single wallet
- Decoupled from your FB/google account allowing you to not be tied to their services for logging in somewhere on the internet
- Current applications: Metamask, WalletConnect
Cashing out value locked in various silos
- Platforms with the internal value could use crypto to make the value extractable
- Transferable status & reputation
- Transferable financial incentives e.g: Amazon credits
- Current applications: Lens for decentralized social graph
Streaming Payments and Paychecks
- Move very small amounts of money continuously using code
- People can get a salary or hourly payments streamed to them while they work
- Being able to continuously charge for consulting work w/o. having to worry about invoicing.
Category 2: Shittier without blockchain tech
Global Digital Currency
- A global digital cash system through stablecoins.
- Global, you can send money anywhere
- 24*7, at anytime
- Near Instant
- Current applications: USDC, DAI
Digital Ownership & Property Rights
- Assign ownership to digital work
- Current applications: Digital Art, Digital Music, ENS.
Cheaper Digital Payments
- Currently, digital payment processors charge a significant fee based on the type of transaction.
- With, blockchain companies can take digital payments without fees.