Education - the key to mass adoption of blockchain technology

Key focus:

1. What is blockchain technology

2. Understand the key issue

3. Blockchain education, the key to economic growth

4. Building mass adoption: the role of research and education’s role

5. Challenges of blockchain adoption

6. Possible solutions.



Based on my personal experiences and what I have seen in the blockchain and crypto community, I can say that education is the key to mass adoption of blockchain technology. I have a community where I guide and teach them crypto and I also have a brand where value delivery and monetization. So, I have encountered people who asked me all sort of questions about the blockchain. By their questions, you can tell the level of their understanding and knowledge about the technology. This encourages me to push for education more than ever.

Right information will save you from a get-rich-quick system and environment.

So how do people adopt new technology and new systems? How do people integrate new technology into their everyday lives? Simple, education and right information. I am building my brand to be your one stop to getting the right information you need in a fast paced world. These information will help you maximize value and monetize it if need be. Therefore, I advocate education any day any time. When I say education, I do not mean classroom education. I mean relevant information that will guide your daily choices as you maximize opportunities.

What is blockchain technology?

Blockchain technology is a revolutionary genesis technology that is incredibly popular nowadays. Most persons associate it bitcoin or ethereum. The truth is, blockchain technology is beyond bitcoin and ethereum, instead it is the intrinsic technology behind these cryptocurrencies.

But what exactly is the blockhain? How does it work and how can it be used? Just like the name, it is a chain of blocks that contain information and data.

Here is a tiny little history of blockchain.

Originally, the blockchain was developed in 1992 to timestamp documents so that no one can tamper or back date the data on the documents. However, Satoshi Nakomoto adopted it in 2009 to create the first digital currency, the Bitcoin.



Now if you are not actively involved in this technology, it is possible that you could be missing out on one thing that can change your life and finances for good. One way we keep record of what is real and legit in the mainstream world is by keeping records of every original registration so that there will be no duplicity. The mainstream system is centralized and sometimes corrupt, hence information can be changed by those in power, those in authority. Someone can change the records if they simply have the power to. This why the blockchain and the bitcoin were created.

Bitcoin is the first form of money to remove the need for centralization. The records of transactions are kept by everyone and not just a central authority unlike the mainstream world. Decentralization educes the need for fraud, corruption and manipulation.

The blockchain is a distributed, decentralized, open-source ledger. Once a data is confirmed on it, it cannot be irreversible or very difficult to change. The blockchain technology is simply a new and innovative way to decentralize the systems. Blockchain technology is a decentralized way of keeping records using peer to peer method without any need for a central authority.



Lets analyze the “Block” in the blockchain. Each block has a hash, data and the hash of the previous block. The data within each block is dependent on the type of the blockchain. Like the bitcoin blockchain will contain the data of the sender, the receiver and the amount of coins in the transaction. The hash is specific and unique to each block, it identifies the block and the content. The hash of the previous block connects to the next block linking the two blocks. There is a genesis block which is the first block. The blockchain is distributed, in that there is no central control that manages the network. It uses a peer to peer network and anyone can join the network. When someone joins the network, he gets the complete copy of the blockchain. Every node verifies incoming node to make sure that the node has not been tampered with before adding it to the network, therefore confirming the transaction. This agreement within the network is called a consensus mechanism. If the block has being tampered with, it will be rejected. To sucessfully tamper with a block on the blockchain, you need to tamper with all the blocks on the chain. And take control of up to 51% of the entire network (this is called 51% attack.) 51% is almost impossible. Smart contracts is one of the evolution of the blockchain. Smart contracts are codes or programs that are stored on the blockchain and can be used to automatically exchange coins based on specific terms and conditions. As this technology continues to evolve, we see the possibilities and sectors that it can positively impact. Some of these sectors include, medical records, governance, voting, supply chain, education, decentralized data storage and so forth.

Understand the key issue

Before addressing the challenges and issues with the blockchain, what are the benefits of the blockchain?

• Immutability: all transactions on the blockchain are immutable, hence they are irreversible. Once a piece of data is confirmed on the blockchain network, it is practically impossible to alter the record or reverse it. This immutability is guaranteed through advanced cryptography algorithm.
• No central point of failure: if for some reason, some of the nodes on the network are shut down, the network will not be affected, the remaining nodes will work because they have the same data as the nodes that are no longer functional.
• Trustless transactions: with the blockchain, there is no need for trust among the parties. Normally, one needs to know whom they are transacting with to know If they can transact with the person. Hence, the place of 3rd parties in verifying transactions. However, with the blockchain, there is no need for 3rd parties, this is where the use of consensus mechanisms like PoS, PoW, Proof of Authority etc Comes in.
  
  
  
  Here are the issues:
  
  The immutability of the blockchain can also be an issue. When data is confirmed, it cannot be modified. Hence, funds cannot be reverted on the blockchain.
  
  Another issue with the blockchain is the processing time which impacts its ability to be scalable. Because all the nodes have to verify every transaction and store the same data, blockchain transactions are not fast. Hence, nodes prioritize transactions with higher rewards or transaction fees. This causes delay in confirming transactions with lower or regular fees.
  
  In a centralized system, users do not have to bother with saving private keys, hence the system can help them retrieve them or give them access if they lose their access. But in a decentralized, the user is charged with the responsibility of keeping their public and private keys and peradventure the user loses the keys, the account is lost forever.
  
  
  
  Blockchain technology is a genesis technology, daily people are researching, finding out the reaches and capacity of this technology and how it can make life better. The application of the technology could be countless including creating a decentralized economic system with no central point of failure.
  
  
  
  Blockchain education; key to economic growth

If we are going to take advantage of this revolutionary technology especially in impacting economic growth, education and research is very imperative. Truth is, most people are carried away with the financial inclusion this technology brings to the table. But, investing in blockchain technology like cryptocurrencies without due diligence of education and research is very risky. The cryptocurrency market is which is just one aspect of the blockchain technology is very volatile, you need to learn at least how to trade to venture into it. Its not something you assume you know how it works because it is accessible on the internet. The cryptocurrency market is a minefield waiting to blow someone up, hence one need to understand the risks, know how to manage the risks and how to maximize the profits.

Now If the blockchain in general will influence every sector as we know it in order to improve the economy and produce a decentralized economic system, education and research must be prioritized over the need to multiply money. Because, the money is in the knowledge. All markets re the same including crypto, the difference is in the time frame. Crypto trading requires lots of discipline, you might know how to trade but without the discipline and emotional intelligence you might get rekt in the markets. The markets are moved by sentiments. I have always said that information and timing rules your chances of maximizing the profits in the cryptocurrency space. You can be the most technical trader in the world but if you cannot handle the market sentiments and the emotions, you might end up being your own pitfall. If you cannot manage the risks, you will lose money in the market. Despite, the technicals, understanding the market cycles is much more important.

The crypto market is a very security sensitive arena, people need to understand how to take responsibility of their security.

Blockchain technology will not thrive without education and research. So we need to get our heads out of the clouds of quick money and quick profits and actually do the due diligence that will impact our economy positively. What drives ponzi is lack of financial literacy backed by the need to get rich quick.

Building Mass Adoption: role of research and education

Blockchain technology can be applied to almost every sector and the potential is mind blowing. But here is the challenge, mass adoption. Human beings turn against what they don’t understand instead of trying to understand it. And because a lot of persons don’t understand the blockchain they turn away from it and it give it all sort of names. Someone once told me that he would never get himself involved with the technology because it is satanic. And you wonder where that ideology is coming from.

The truth is, if people can see and understand the basics of this technology and can translate it into their daily live they would be ready to adopt it. There re lots of big terminologies flying around about the technology and people find it hard to comprehend how those terms can make any meaning in their day to day lives.

Many persons have made terrible financial investments because they didn’t want to go through the stress of understanding what they were getting into. When you are not educated about a topic, anyone can rip you off your money. People take advantage of ignorance, because they know that most people are lazy to read and research so they flash numbers and percentages before you to rope you in. It’s shocking how someone can comfortably invest his money with a company he or she knows nothing about because of a promise of certain percentage returns. But when you tell this same person to invest just 10% of that fund to their education on that investment he or she feels you want to rip them off.

Hence, research and education will play massive role in the mass adoption of the blockchain technology. Understanding how the blockchain works will play a big role in adopting it. Education and research also contributes to the scalability of the blockchain. If the blockchain must grown and yield every potential, all hands must be on deck for it to happen. We say blockchain will change the world but the common man finds it very difficult to translate what the blockchain means to his daily life, of course everyone understands percentages and profits, however, blockchain use cases is beyond percentages and profits. There are more information this year on blockchain than last year, I know because I checked. More efforts go into this technology on a daily basis. Right information is powerful as it informs and guides your actions.



Challenges of mass adoption of blockchain technology

Too many smart people throwing big words around: there are many people who are more concerned with throwing big words around about the blockchain than actually impacting their immediate community about the technology. Sometimes, this same set of people find it very hard to directly translate this technology to their immediate lives. So they know lots of big words and intimidate others with. This builds discouragement in the hearts of those who would have loved to learn about the technology. Growing in the awareness of blockchain is a community thing. Those who know and understand should break it down to those who don’t. one of the ways that that shows that one really knows a subject is the ability to teach other people that same subject.



Ponzi and quick money mindset: making money has a rule and a system. This system is one that can be reproduced over and over. It is a process that can be taught and adopted by another. However, Quick money schemes leaves a few people rich by defrauding the larger crowd. I have found that it is an almost natural inclination for man to look for easier means of making money instead of going through process. One way or another, people have found out means to make quick gains by building ponzi schemes around some cryptocurrency just like they did in the past with fiat. Hence, this kind of mindset is a stumbling block to adoption of blockchain technology.



What are the Possible solutions you have in mind?

The merchant adoption of cryptocurrency has continued to grow even among those that have little or no knowledge about what blockchain is in itself.

But the Blockchain technology is much more than just cryptocurrencies, and very few Understand this.

Twitter: @valucop

LinkedIn: @Victoria Ukpaka