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Where’s Blockchain Anyway? What Happened?

The tech was real. The story was wrong. It became a punchline. Why blockchain needs a second chance.

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Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on Unsplash

A few years ago, around 2017 as the enthusiasm for blockchain was amping up, I was inundated with requests by startups and coders to review their idea and products. Everything from real-estate contract systems to sports tracking and even IP protection solutions. Some deeply technical, some whimsical and others quite practical It was a lot of fun. Then it all fizzled out and blockchain seems to be relegated to the hinterlands of the digital world.

What happened to blockchain then? Why is it seemingly just a faded fad, almost relegated to floppy disc type tech of an age gone by. A nostalgic whim of a better time? I’ll look at why here and why and how it could and likely will, make a comeback. This is my perspective as a digital anthropologist having worked at the intersection of culture and technology for over twenty years in field practice, not academia. I’ve launched over 15 technology products into global markets and been through the first .com boom. For background. I don’t have as much hair as I used to.

So what happened to blockchain? In short, culture didn’t understand it and rejected it. So what do I mean by that?

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Giles Crouch | Digital Anthropologist
Giles Crouch | Digital Anthropologist

Written by Giles Crouch | Digital Anthropologist

Digital Anthropologist | I'm in WIRED, Forbes, National Geographic etc. | Speaker | Writer | Cymru

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