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AdTech for dummies

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This discipline has been around for a few years, but it's only recently caught the attention of savvy ad tech agencies. In the era of big data, they've recognized having ad tech company relationships makes them more powerful and attractive to clients.

The age of social media has forced agencies to investigate innovative ways to interact with relevant users, rather than relying on typical broadcast or digital media buys. And the advantages for agencies investing in ad tech are plentiful: 74% of marketers want to work with ad agencies who know how to make use of ad tech.

But there's still one issue: many young ad agencies are still trying to figure out what exactly ad tech is -- and how they can best use it to their advantage.

What is Ad Tech? And Why Should You Care?

The first step to leveraging ad tech is understanding exactly what it is. Ad tech (short for advertising technology) is the umbrella term for the software and tools that help agencies and brands target, deliver, and analyze their digital advertising efforts.

If you've ever scratched your head at the terms "programmatic" or "omnichannel," you've likely already heard a little about what ad tech does (though you may not have even realized it). Programmatic advertising, for instance, buys target audiences instead of time slots: Think about buying ad space that reaches a particular demographic wherever it is instead of buying a prime time TV spot and hoping the right people are watching.

Omnichannel marketing reaches target consumers across all channels -- mobile, video, desktop, and more -- within the context of how they've interacted with a brand (those first seeing an ad will receive a different message from those who have engaged with that brand a number of times). Omnichannel and programmatic aren't the only two tools within ad tech, but they are two of the most revolutionary.

That said, ad tech is designed to help advertisers make better use of their budgets. Ad tech methodologies deliver the right content at the right time to the right consumers, so there's less wasteful spending.

Elephants and Ad Tech: A Story

Imagine being asked to wash an elephant's ears while conserving water. You could always bathe the whole elephant -- you would definitely get his ears clean, but you'd use much more water than you need to, so that method doesn't make much sense.

To save your resources, you could concentrate on the head instead, using less water but still more than you'd like. Or you could figure out a way to use just enough water to scrub those ears and make him the happiest pachyderm in the herd.

Now, take this analogy and put it in the context of online ad placements.

The traditional method of pushing advertisements to web users involves a broad-brush approach, much like showering the whole elephant just to get to its ears. Remember that publishers are not based on ad networks, they're based on content. Advertisements slipped alongside content that may or may not have relevancy for the viewer forces exposure. This method can work, but it can be inefficient, annoying, and wasteful. It's still not the best use of an agency's resources.

Today, ad tech methods supported by influential data allow agencies to make wiser placements that effectively position advertisements when and where they are needed most. This helps reduce wasted efforts and gets ads to users at critical touch points, meaning it's helpful for both brands and consumers.

Instead of the standard sort of placement buys, ad agencies can integrate their ads using high-level data and technology. It's a logical next step toward seamless integration and high-impact, value-added placements. And it's redefining how agency planning and strategy teams look at media.

Ad Tech Traction and Benefits

Ad tech has plenty of moving parts, which means there are countless opportunities for agencies to set themselves apart. The diversity of ad tech data allows for more granular and relevant targeting and integration. It also necessitates leaning upon trusted ad tech solutions and platforms to get the most out of every ad campaign.

One major effect for agencies and their clients is noticeable improvement in prospect interactions. Thanks to ad tech, brands can now connect all advertising channels. This means saying goodbye to clunky, unnatural advertising that irritates users and frustrates agencies and their clients. Instead, cross-platform uniformity ensures brands are reaching users consistently and logically.

Ad tech has also allowed retargeting to enjoy growing popularity -- so much that it represents about 90% of all advertising costs. In other words, it's not going away.

The problem is that it can be too intrusive, which leads to reduced effectiveness. By taking advantage of RTB options fueled by ad tech data, agencies can drill down and target only those audiences most likely to convert, without badgering those who aren't.

Connecting the Dots Between Ad Tech Companies and Agencies

Knowing that they need each other to thrive, agencies and ad tech companies are on a joint mission to figure out how to forge long-lasting relationships. Deeper connections tend to occur naturally through regular communications, realistic expectations, and thoughtful customization.

Communication

Touching base regularly and working transparently between both parties is essential. There can no longer be a "set it and forget it" attitude in the online ad industry.

With new integrations between data, tech, and content, there needs to be consistent party involvement from start to finish. To this end, media publishers are having more discussions with their agency partners about content and other creative efforts than ever before. That makes it imperative for ad tech organizations and agencies to have an "open door" policy.

Expectations

Quick turnarounds are another key factor to keep an eye on in the relationship between agencies and ad tech pros. Everyone wants rapid turnarounds, but sometimes things can get lost when too much is happening at one time, and sometimes quality is compromised.

Do you want something mediocre that's finished tomorrow or something impressive you have at the end of the week? You likely want the latter. Project management helps smooth out the flow between ad tech and agencies and ensures more successful campaigns.

Customization

Imagine you're a consumer who just saw a mobile ad that piqued your interest. When you go to browse on your laptop, you see the same ad. Then you see the same next time you're on YouTube, then again before your next Hulu binge session. Seeing the exact same content becomes annoying, and your interest inevitably lowers.

That said, there can't be a repurposing of content and strategy across all channels -- that's a dinosaur-era approach destined to backfire. Agencies and brands are realizing that they need to customize creative for each channel and integration. It's no longer acceptable to have a mentality of "matched luggage" when it comes to media. Agencies can work hand-in-hand with an ad tech partner to achieve exceptional outcomes through data interpretation.

Reaching Higher With Ad Tech

Ad tech has grown rapidly, and it's showing zero signs of slowing down.

As it continues its spread, agencies will be able to take advantage of ad tech's opportunities to develop more integrations, more data sharing, extended reach across all channels, and cleaner integrations against content.

According to some stats, up to 39% of agencies already talk about their ad tech connections when wooing prospective clients.

When ad tech and agencies partner up, user experiences will be increasingly polished and positive, and agencies will get the reward for their commitment to embracing the benefits of a lasting relationship with ad tech providers.

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What is Ad Tech and Why Should Agencies Care?

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This discipline has been around for a few years, but it's only recently caught the attention of savvy ad tech agencies. In the era of big data, they've recognized having ad tech company relationships makes them more powerful and attractive to clients.

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What is Cryptocurrency? [Everything You Need To Know!]

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What Is Cryptocurrency: 21st-Century Unicorn – Or The Money Of The Future? TL;DR: Cryptocurrency is an internet-based medium of exchange which uses cryptographical functions to conduct financial transactions. Cryptocurrencies leverage blockchain technology to gain decentralization, transparency, an…

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Case studies

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While Bitcoin and cryptocurrency may have been the first widely known uses of blockchain technology, today, it's far from the only one. In fact, blockchain is revolutionizing most every industry. Here are just a few of the practical examples of blockchain technology.
Entertainment
‌ KickCity -Platform for event organizers that enables them to pay only for what they get, and rewards community members by sharing those events. Their products generate around $50k monthly with more than 70k users and 300 event hosts.

B2Expand -Based on the Ethereum blockchain they create cross-gaming video games. Their first video game "Beyond the Void" got into Ubisoft's startup program and they're the first gaming company on Steam with a crypto economy.

Spotify -When Spotify acquired blockchain startup Mediachain Labs it was to help develop solutions via a decentralized database to better connect artists and licensing agreements with the tracks on Spotify's service.

Guts -A transparent ticketing ecosystem that uses blockchain technology to eliminate ticket fraud and the secondary ticket market.
Social Engagement
Matchpool -"Matchmakers" are rewarded for making successful matches whether it's dating to freelancing to Uber and Airbnb.
Retail
Warranteer -A blockchain application that allows consumers to easily access info regarding the products they purchased and get service in the case of product malfunction.

Blockpoint -Simplifies the creation of payment systems and allows mobile wallet, loyalty program, gift cards and other point-of-sale functionality.

Loyyal -Powered by blockchain and smart contract technology, this loyalty and rewards platform creates more customized programs that even allow for multi-branded rewards.
Exotic Cars
Bitcar -Fractionalized ownership of collector cars made possible by a BitCar token.
Supply chains and logistics
IBM Blockchain -Knowing the status and condition of every product on your supply chain from raw materials to distribution is critical. Blockchain for supply chains allows transparency with a shared record of ownership and location of parts and products in real time.

Food industry -The food industry's complex network from farmers to grocers makes tracking down food-borne illnesses challenging. Blockchain can improve the transparency and efficiency of finding out what food might be contaminated and where throughout the supply chain.

Provenance -Consumers are increasingly demanding transparency regarding the products they purchase and consume to ensure the sourcing of materials and production of products adheres to their individual values. Provenance uses blockchain to provide chain-of-custody and certification of supply chains.

Blockverify -With a claim to "introduce transparency to supply chains," Blockverify focuses on anti-counterfeit solutions using blockchain to verify counterfeit products, diverted goods, stolen merchandise and fraudulent transactions.

OriginTrail -Already in use in the food industry, more applications are planned for OriginTrail, a platform that lets consumers know where their purchases came from and how they were produced.

De Beers-De Beers mines, trades and markets more than 30% of the world's supply of diamonds. The company plans to use a blockchain ledger for tracing diamonds from the mine to the customer purchase. This transparency will help the industry and anybody who wishes to verify, confirm diamonds are free from conflict. Fura Gems also plans to use blockchain in its supply process of emeralds, rubies and other precious stones.
Insurance
Accenture -With goals to boost efficiency and productivity within the insurance industry, Accenture builds blockchain solutions for its insurance clients. They translate key insurance industry processes into blockchain-ready procedures that embed trust into the system.

Proof of insurance -Nationwide insurance company is currently testing a blockchain solution to provide proof-of-insurance information called RiskBlock. Ultimately, when this tool is fully deployed it will help law enforcement, insured and insurers verify insurance coverage in real time and accelerate claims processing.
Healthcare
MedicalChain -The first healthcare company using blockchain technology to facilitate the storage and utilization of electronic health records in order to deliver a complete telemedicine experience. They are real practicing doctors in the UK healthcare structure and want to change the system from within.

MedRec -In order to give any medical provider secure access to patients' records, MedRec uses blockchain to save time, money and duplication in procedures between a variety of facilities and providers. Patients could also grand access to their anonymous medical records to be used for research.

Nano Vision -Looking to catapult medical innovation away from traditional data silos and incompatible records systems, Nano Vision combines the power of blockchain with artificial intelligence (AI) to gather molecular-level data on Nano Tokens. AI then sifts through the data to find trends and analyze connections that will lead to medical breakthroughs.

Gem -With a goal to give patients control over their medical records and genomic data by using a blockchain solution, Gem has also partnered with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to experiment with using blockchain to monitor infectious diseases.

SimplyVital Health -This platform sits on blockchain technology that empowers providers and patients to access, share and even move their healthcare data.
Real Estate
BitProperty -Using blockchain and smart contracts, BitProperty wants to democratize opportunity and create a decentralized society by allowing anyone anywhere in the world (except the U.S. and Japan due to regulatory concerns) to invest in real estate.

Deedcoin -Rather than a typical 6% real estate commission, Deedcoin runs on 1% and hopes to be the new way for home buyers and sellers to connect with real estate agents who accept a lower commission.

Ubiquity -This Software-as-a-Service (Saas) blockchain platform offers a simpler user experience to securely record property information to ensure a clean record of ownership.
Charity
BitGive -This gloabal donation platform leverages Bitcoin and blockchain technology to provide greater transparency to donors by sharing real-time financial and project information. Save the Children, The Water Project and Medic Mobile are a few of the charities working with BitGive.

AidCoin -Since research shows 43% of people don't trust charities, AidCoin hopes to improve that trust with distributed ledgers, smart contracts and cryptocurrencies and make the nonprofit sector more transparent.

Utopi -A lack of transparency has plagued charitable giving, but Utopi hopes to improve transparency in nonprofits. When donors give using the Utopi platform they can see exactly how every penny is spent.
Financial Services
Bitcoin Atom -A new fork of Bitcoin that allows everyone to easily exchange cryptocurrencies without any trading fees and no exchange hacks, making Bitcoin truly decentralized again. The technology is based on atomic swaps-an invaluable tool for exchanging one cryptocurrency with another (e.g. 1000 BTC with 56500 LTC) and no need for a trusted third party. But currently, widespread adoption of atomic swaps has been prevented because they require highly technical skills; something Bitcoin Atom will solve.

Securrency -This is a trading platform for cryptocurrencies and any kind of asset including traditionally illiquid assets to be exchanged through Securrency tokens. This allows cryptos to be traded outside of their dedicated exchanges.

Ripple -Ripple aims to be a global payment solution provider by connecting banks, payment providers, corporations and digital asset exchanges to allow instant, on-demand settlement globally.

ABRA -A global app and cryptocurrency wallet that allows you to buy, invest and store 20 crytopcurriences including Bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and more.

Aeternity -This highly scalable blockchain platform can be used for any application that requires high transactional speed including smart contracts that are created off chain and nano and micro payments.

Smart Valor -With a mission to make global investments simple, fair and accessible to everyone, Smart Valor democratizes access to global wealth and investment opportunities.

Circle -Send money via text without any fees thanks to this UK-based company.

There are so many blockchain innovations out there that it was a challenge to find what to highlight (check out a previous post of mine for more blockchain examples). Many of these are potentially disruptive and it will be interesting to watch how many of these will survive this initial hype phase. If the initial dot com boom is anything to go by, then there will be many casualties in the short term but serious disruptions in the medium and longer term. An amazing space to watch.

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30+ Real Examples Of Blockchain Technology In Practice

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When many people think of blockchain technology, the first thing that comes to mind is Bitcoin. But in the last several years, blockchain isn't only enabling cryptocurrencies, it is revolutionizing many industries. Here we take a look at some of the most practical uses of blockchain technology.

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Imagine a world where you can send money directly to someone without a bank - in seconds instead of days, and you don't pay exorbitant bank fees.

Or one where you store money in an online wallet not tied to a bank, meaning you are your own bank and have complete control over your money. You don't need a bank's permission to access or move it, and never have to worry about a third party taking it away, or a government's economic policy manipulating it.

This is not a world of the future; it is a world that an avid but growing number of early adopters live in right now. And these are just a few of the important blockchain technology use cases that are transforming the way we trust and exchange value. We'll get into the rest later on.

Yet, for many, blockchain technology is still a mysterious or even intimidating topic. Some even remain skeptical that we'll use this technology in the future. This skepticism that exists today is understandable because we're still very early in the development and widespread adoption of blockchain technology.

2021 is to blockchain what the late 1990s were to the internet. And like the internet, blockchain technology is anything but a fad, it's here to stay, and if you're reading this, you're early too.

This post demystifies blockchain technology. This is your 'intro to blockchain technology 101'. A complete, easy-to-understand, step by step beginners blockchain breakdown. You'll learn everything from what blockchain is and why it matters, to how blockchain works (step by step) and what today - tomorrow's - most promising blockchain applications may be.

You'll also walk away from this post confident, and well on your way to making informed, independent blockchain technology investment decisions. And you'll be no slouch if you want to hold your own in conversations with family and friends too!

So let's dive in

Blockchain 101: Blockchain For Beginners

Blockchain technology is the concept or protocol behind the running of the blockchain. Blockchain technology makes cryptocurrencies (digital currencies secured by cryptography) like Bitcoin work just like the internet makes email possible.

The blockchain is an immutable (unchangeable, meaning a transaction or file recorded cannot be changed) distributed digital ledger (digital record of transactions or data stored in multiple places on a computer network) with many use cases beyond cryptocurrencies.

Immutable and distributed are two fundamental blockchain properties. The immutability of the ledger means you can always trust it to be accurate. Being distributed protects the blockchain from network attacks.

Each transaction or record on the ledger is stored in a "block." For example, blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain consist of an average of more than 500 Bitcoin transactions.

The information contained in a block is dependent on and linked to the information in a previous block and, over time, forms a chain of transactions. Hence the word blockchain.

Types of Blockchains

There are four types of blockchains:

1. Public Blockchains

Public blockchains are open, decentralized networks of computers accessible to anyone wanting to request or validate a transaction (check for accuracy). Those (miners) who validate transactions receive rewards.

Public blockchains use proof-of-work or proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms (discussed later). Two common examples of public blockchains include the Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains.

2. Private Blockchains

Private blockchains are not open, they have access restrictions. People who want to join require permission from the system administrator. They are typically governed by one entity, meaning they're centralized. For example, Hyperledger is a private, permissioned blockchain.

3. Hybrid Blockchains or Consortiums

Consortiums are a combination of public and private blockchains and contain centralized and decentralized features. For example, Energy Web Foundation, Dragonchain, and R3.

Take note: There isn't a 100 percent consensus on whether these are different terms. Some make a distinction between the two, while others consider them the same thing.

4. Sidechains

A sidechain is a blockchain running parallel to the main chain. It allows users to move digital assets between two different blockchains and improves scalability and efficiency. An example of a sidechain is the Liquid Network.

History of Blockchain
Blockchain isn't just a database, it's a new technology stack with 'digital trust' that is revolutionizing the way we exchange value and information across the internet, by taking out the 'gatekeepers' from the process. For a complete and more detailed deep dive check out our article: A Concise History of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain history goes back farther than you might imagine, but we've condensed it by answering four critical questions:

Who Invented Blockchain?

The first blockchain-like protocol was proposed by cryptographer David Chaum in 1982. Later in 1991, Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta wrote about their work on Consortiums.

But it was Satoshi Nakamoto (presumed pseudonym for a person or group of people) who invented and implemented the first blockchain network after deploying the world's first digital currency, Bitcoin.
Cryptography is a deep and fascinating discipline with a history that goes back further than blockchain. For a richer understanding of how cryptography helps blockchain technology, check out: Why Cryptography Makes Blockchain Unstoppable
Who Owns Blockchain Technology?

Because blockchain technology is the technology behind the blockchain, it cannot be owned. It's like the internet. But anyone can use the technology to run and own their own blockchains.

Who Founded Bitcoin?

Satoshi Nakamoto.

Who Sent and Received the First Bitcoin Transaction?

Nakamoto sent ten bitcoins to Hal Finney, who built the first reusable proof-of-work system in 2004.

How Does a Public Blockchain Work (Step-by-Step)
For a more in-depth account of the next section, check out the thorough discussion in: What is Blockchain Technology and How Does it Work? Let's start with an oversimplification.
As a society, we created ledgers to store information-and they have a variety of applications. For example, we use ledgers in real estate to store a house's records, such as when alterations were made or the house was sold. We also use ledgers in bookkeeping to record all the transactions a company makes.

Bookkeeping mostly relies on double-entry accounting to store transactions. Although this is a step-up from single-entry accounting that lacks transparency and accountability, double-entry accounting also has its pitfalls: Entries are accounted for separately, making it difficult for one counterparty to verify the other's records.

Records stored using traditional ledgers are also easy to tamper with, meaning you can easily edit, remove, or add a record. As a result, you're less likely to trust that the information is accurate.

Public blockchains solve both these problems - and the way we trust - by evolving the traditional bookkeeping model to triple-entry bookkeeping: transactions on a blockchain are cryptographically sealed by a third entry. This creates a tamper-proof record of transactions stored in blocks and verified by a distributed consensus mechanism.

These consensus mechanisms also ensure new blocks get added to any blockchain. An example of a consensus mechanism is proof-of-work (PoW), often referred to as "mining."

Mining isn't universal to all blockchains; it's just one type of consensus mechanism currently used by Bitcoin and Ethereum, though Ethereum plans to move to another-proof-of-stake (PoS)- by 2022.

Here's how this process works with Bitcoin. When sending Bitcoin, you pay a small fee (in bitcoin) for a network of computers to confirm your transaction is valid. Your transaction is then bundled with other transactions pending in a queue to be added to a new block.

The computers (nodes) then work to validate this list of transactions in the block by solving a complex mathematical problem to come up with a hash, which is a 64-digit hexadecimal number.

Once solved, the block is added to the network-and your fee, combined with all other transaction fees in that block, is the miner's reward. It's that simple.

Each new block added to the network is assigned a unique key (via cryptography). To obtain each new key, the previous block's key and information are inputted into a formula.

As new blocks are continually added through the ongoing mining process, they become increasingly secure and harder to tamper with. Anyone caught trying to edit a record will simply be ignored. All future blocks then depend on information from prior blocks-and this dependency from one block to the next forms a secure chain: the blockchain.

You can see this depicted below for house records stored on the blockchain. For example, Block 2 provides a key after taking all the information from Block 1 into account (including the key) and inputting it into a formula. Block 3, in turn, provides a new key after taking all the information from Block 1 and Block 2 into account (including the key) and inputting it into a formula. And so, the process repeats itself indefinitely.

Now, let's dig deeper, exploring proof-of-work (PoW) vs. proof-of-stake (PoS) and the blockchain trilemma, which are fundamental to the public blockchain's functioning.

Proof of Work (PoW) vs. Proof of Stake (PoS)

A public blockchain functions through consensus mechanisms: the process for validating transactions without a third party like a bank.

PoW and PoS are two such mechanisms. While their goal-to reach a consensus that a transaction is valid-remains the same, how they get there is a little different.

What Is PoW?

PoW, the technical term for mining, is the original consensus mechanism. It is still used by Bitcoin and Ethereum as of writing but, as mentioned, Ethereum will move to PoS by 2022. PoW is based on cryptography, which uses mathematical equations only computers can solve.

The example in the previous section of how blocks get added to the Bitcoin Blockchain explains this system.

The two big problems with PoW are that it uses a lot of electricity and can only process a limited number of transactions simultaneously (seven for Bitcoin). Transactions typically take at least ten minutes to complete, with this delay increasing when the network is congested. Though compared to the days-long wait required to wire money across the globe, or even to clear a check, Bitcoin's ten-minute delay is quite remarkable.

Other consensus mechanisms were created to solve these PoW problems; the most popular being PoS.

What Is PoS?

PoS still uses cryptographic algorithms for validation, but transactions get validated by a chosen validator based on how many coins they hold, also known as their stake.

Individuals aren't technically mining, and there's no block reward. Instead, blocks are 'forged.' Those participating in this process lock a specific number of coins on the network.

The bigger a person's stake, the more mining power they have-and the higher the chances they'll be selected as the validator for the next block.

To ensure those with the most coins aren't always selected, other selection methods are used. These include randomized block selection (forgers with the highest stake and lowest hash value are chosen) and coin age selection (forgers are selected based on how long they've held their coins)

The results are faster transaction times and lower costs. The NEO and Dash cryptocurrencies, for example, can send and receive transactions in seconds.

Blockchain or Scalability Trilemma: Decentralization, Security, and Scalability

Most blockchain projects are built around three core properties: decentralization, scalability, and security. Developers are constantly trying to balance these aspects, so one isn't compromised.

But they often have to sacrifice one for the others. The ' blockchain trilemma,' concept was first coined the 'scalability trilemma' by Ethereum founder, Vitalik Buterin.

Let's look at these concepts in more detail and explore the tradeoffs:

Decentralization

Decentralization means there's no central point of control. Instead, decisions are made via consensus over a distributed network of computers.

There is, however, one significant tradeoff: speed. Sending transactions takes longer because multiple confirmations are required to validate a transaction. Hence why Bitcoin is slow.

Scalability

Scalability is the ability of the system to cope with a growing number of transactions. Scalability is crucial for mass adoption because any system needs to operate efficiently as more people use it.

Below is a rough breakdown of how many transactions Ethereum, Bitcoin, and credit card companies can process per second:

Bitcoin: seven per second

Ethereum: 30 per second

Credit cards: 5,000 credit card transactions per second with the ability to process much more if needed. Visa, for example, can process up to 24,000 transactions per second.

But achieving scalability often comes at the expense of decentralization. EOS, for example, promises a maximum of 4000 TPS but has come under criticism for being too centralized.

Security

Security is the ability of a blockchain to be protected from attacks. Unfortunately, exchanges and source code have been hacked on many occasions, suggesting that many developers focus on scalability and decentralization at the expense of security.

What Is the Difference Between Bitcoin and Ethereum Blockchains?

Bitcoin and Etherum are the two biggest cryptocurrencies and blockchains, so discussing and comparing them makes sense.

Bitcoin Basics

The Bitcoin network is a public, decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that allows users to send and receive bitcoins without a bank getting involved. The digital currency or bitcoin token uses the ticker symbol BTC, and is the only cryptocurrency traded on the Bitcoin network.

Transactions are recorded using a digital ledger, and nodes ensure the PoW consensus mechanism is followed (or that mining happens). For many, Bitcoin seems complicated, but it isn't when you view it as a combination of three things:

A peer-to-peer payment system: You can send money (BTC) from one person or company to another without the need for a bank. Sending money this way is faster, more secure, and cheaper than using traditional methods.

A decentralized system like the internet, so it's not controlled by one entity and cannot be stopped by a third party.

A store of value like gold (often called digital gold), but much easier to transfer than gold.

Ethereum Basics

In 2013, after traveling, meeting with bitcoin developers, and discovering Bitcoin's limitations, Vitlaik Buterin decided to improve upon the Bitcoin blockchain and built Ethereum.

The Ethereum network is a public, decentralized peer-to-peer network. Like Bitcoin, it uses nodes and allows users to send and receive cryptocurrency-in this case, Ether.

The network is much more than a payment system-it was primarily created to deploy decentralized applications (dapps) and smart contracts.

Dapps are simply 'decentralized apps,' or computer programs that interact with the Ethereum blockchain. Smart contracts, however, operate on the Ethereum blockchain, and are contracts that automatically execute without an intermediary once certain conditions (written into computer code) are met. For example, a smart contract could be programmed to send a designated person a portion of your Bitcoin when you die.

Ethereum vs. Bitcoin Blockchains

In summary, Bitcoin and Ethereum networks are public, decentralized peer-to-peer networks with their own tokens: bitcoins and Ether. Both rely on cryptography, and both use digital ledger technology. For a complete Ethereum vs. Bitcoin match up check out our deep dive post: Ethereum Vs Bitcoin: What's the Difference?

But they differ significantly in purpose and capability. Bitcoin is a decentralized payment system and a store of value. Its blockchain is a database of all bitcoin transactions and tracks their ownership. Ethereum is more than a payment system and allows smart contracts and apps to be built on it, making it a more sophisticated blockchain.

What Are the Benefits of Blockchains Over Traditional Finance?

1. Trustless: The blockchain is immutable and automates trusted transactions between counterparties who do not need to know each other. Transactions are only executed when programmed conditions are met by both parties.

2. Unstoppable: Once the conditions programmed into a blockchain protocol are met, an initiated transaction cannot be undone, changed, or stopped. It's going to execute and nothing - no bank, government, or third party - can stop it.

3. Immutable: Records on a blockchain cannot be changed or tampered with - Bitcoin has never been hacked. A new block of transactions is only added after a complex mathematical problem is solved and verified by a consensus mechanism. Each new block has a unique cryptographic key resulting from the previous block's information and key being added into a formula.

4. Decentralized: No single entity maintains the network. Unlike centralized banks, decisions on the blockchain are made via consensus. Decentralization is essential because it ensures people can easily access and build on the platform, and there are multiple points of failure.

5. Lower Cost: In the traditional finance system, you pay third parties like banks to process transactions. The blockchain eliminates these intermediaries and reduces fees, with some systems returning fees to miners and stakers.

6. Peer-to-Peer: Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, let you send money directly to anyone, anywhere in the world, without an intermediary like a bank charging transaction or handling fees.

7. Transparent: Public blockchains are open-source software, so anyone can access them to view transactions and their source code. They can even use the code to build new applications and suggest improvements to the code. Suggestions are accepted or rejected via consensus.

8. Universal Banking: 2 Billion people globally do not have a bank account. Because anyone can access the blockchain to store money, it's a great way to bank the unbanked and protect against theft that can happen due to holding cash in physical locations.

What Are the Disadvantages of Blockchains?

Public open source blockchains are not without their hazards and challenges. Here is a list of the top concerns:

1. Environmental Impact

Blockchain networks like Bitcoin use a lot of electricity to validate transactions, leading to environmental concerns. For example, Bitcoin consumes more electricity than a small, medium-sized European country, and Bitcoin mining is threatening China's climate change goals.

However, many would argue that Bitcoin is held to higher environmental standards than anyone and anything. This may be true, especially if you consider that the blockchain and Bitcoin are an alternative to the traditional finance system that uses much more electricity and has a much larger environmental impact.

A study by Galaxy Digital suggests Bitcoin energy consumption is less than half that of the traditional banking system. If anything, you could argue that Bitcoin is a step in the right direction for the environment.

No one is saying that making strides to lowering the carbon footprint shouldn't be on the agenda (this is already happening with some mining farms shifting to renewable energy sources like solar panels and the El Salvadoran President calling for a plan to use geothermal energy (volcanoes) to mine Bitcoin).

But it's crucial to maintain a balanced view when viewing the cost, environmental impact, and blockchain benefits.

2. Personal Responsibility

One of blockchains and cryptocurrencies' most significant advantages is also its biggest weakness. When you invest in public open-source blockchains by mining or buying cryptocurrencies and store it in your cryptocurrency wallet (your wallet is like your bank account, except only you can access it and have the passwords), only you control your money.

You are your own bank- and this is great! But if you lose your seed phrases - the list of words that give you access to recover your wallets - there is no recourse (compared to banks where you can reset your password). Your money is lost forever.

Unsurprisingly, a large portion of Bitcoin remains permanently lost. According to some estimates, 20% or 3.7 million of the currently minted Bitcoin is probably lost forever.

3. Growing Pains

Even though public blockchains remain more efficient than traditional banking systems, decentralization comes at the cost of scalability. Trying to grow blockchain networks to global capacity, in turn, is the root cause of speed inefficiencies. It's why, as we saw, Bitcoin and Ethereum can only process a maximum of seven and 30 transactions, respectively, compared to Visa's 24,000.

Luckily solutions are being built to improve scalability and the speed of transactions. For example, the lightning network allows transactions to happen off the Bitcoin blockchain to speed up transactions. On Ethereum, many innovative Layer 2 (L2) solutions are being developed to improve scalability and speed including rollups, zero-knowledge proofs and side chains.

4. False Narratives

Some cryptocurrencies are undoubtedly used in unlawful activity. The most famous example is Silk Road: people laundered money and bought drugs on the platform using Bitcoin.

However, this is no different from the illegal activity that constantly happens when people use other currencies like the Dollar.

This false narrative that cryptocurrencies are only or mainly used for illicit activities only delays their inevitable adoption, which can hugely benefit everyone, including the financial system.

Promising Blockchain Use Cases and Killer Applications
For an even more in-depth discussion of the most interesting and disruptive blockchain use cases as of 2021 check our guide: Disruptive Blockchain Technology Use Cases 2021
Blockchain technology is currently used across various industries like supply chain, healthcare, retail, media and advertising, financial services, insurance, travel and transportation, oil and gas, and gaming.

Here are some promising use cases:

1. Cryptocurrencies: The 'killer app' of blockchains today is internet money. Cryptocurrencies let you transfer value faster and cheaper across borders without a bank. Besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, other digital currency examples include Polkadot (DOT), NEO, Cardano (ADA), Tether (USDT), Binance Coin (BNB), and Litecoin (LTC).

2. Smart Contracts: These blockchain applications are contracts that automatically execute without an intermediary once conditions written into the computer code are met.

3. Decentralized Banking: The use of blockchain technology is also proliferating in banking. For example, many banks like Barclays, Canadian Imperial Bank, and UBS are interested in how blockchain can make their back-office settlement systems more efficient.

4. Video Games/Art: You may have heard Crypto Kitties-a game launched on the Ethereum blockchain. One of the virtual pets in the game was sold for over $100,000.

5. Peer-to-peer Energy Trading: People buy or sell energy directly without an intermediary.

6. Supply chain and logistics tracking: Blockchain is being used to track precious metals' origins and foods. For example, Walmart and IBM worked together to create a food traceability system based on open-source ledger technology, making it easier to trace contaminated food.

7. Healthcare process optimization: Blockchain can speed up the time required to pay health insurance payments to patients and store and securely share medical data and records.

8. Real estate processing platform: Property ownership records can be securely stored and verified on the blockchain. These records cannot be tampered with, so you can trust they're accurate and more easily verify property ownership.

9. NFT marketplaces: These are marketplaces that allow you to buy nonfungible tokens (NFTs): digital tokens of things like paintings and clothing.

10. Music royalties tracking: Blockchain can trace music streams and immediately pay those who contributed to a song.

11. Anti-money laundering tracking system: Authorities can more easily track the original source of money because every transaction on the blockchain is recorded and leaves behind a tamper-proof trail.

12. Personal identity security: Traditional systems for storing identities are insecure and fragmented. Blockchain provides a unified, immutable, and interoperable infrastructure so you can store and manage records securely and efficiently.

13. New insurance distribution methods: For example, peer-to-peer insurance, parametric insurance, and microinsurance.

14. Automated Advertising Campaigns: Advertisers can use smart contracts to automate advertising campaigns, e.g., an audience is only shown an ad when specific criteria are met.

How to Invest in Blockchain Technology

With blockchain offering some promising use cases, helping many companies become more efficient, and attracting big companies like Amazon and Tesla, it can be an attractive investment.

But there are risks: It's a new technology, and many projects will not pan out. So, invest only what you can afford to lose, do your own research to determine if the project (or initial coin offering) is worth investing in, and decide what level of exposure you want.

For example, you can get more exposure by investing in cryptocurrencies directly instead of an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

That being said, here are a variety of ways you can invest in the blockchain depending on your goals and risk tolerance:

1. Buy shares in companies using blockchain (e.g., Visa, Walmart, and Siemens) on traditional stock exchanges like the NYSE. You can buy shares by using an online broker such as Vanguard and Betterment (U.S.).

2. Invest in companies with Bitcoin on their balance sheet, e.g., Square, WeWork, MicroStrategy, and Tesla. Again, use an online broker to buy shares.

3. Buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum directly on Centralized Finance (CeFi) or Decentralized (DeFi) exchanges. Centralized exchanges were the norm in the crypto world until decentralized exchanges arrived. With centralized exchanges, you don't have your own private keys, and the exchange is the custodian for storing your funds. Decentralized exchanges are peer-to-peer, and there's no intermediary. Examples of CeFi exchanges include Binance, Kraken, Bittrex, Bitfinex, Luno, and Coinbase. Examples of DeFi exchanges include Uniswap, Compound, KyberSwap, Airswap, IDEX, SushiSwap, Balancer, and Totle.

4. Invest in crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs are a basket of securities that track an asset or index you can buy or sell on an exchange throughout the day. For example, many traditional ETFs will include bonds, currencies, commodities, and stocks and track the S&P 500 Index. In the crypto space, you get a variety of ETFs you can invest in, such as a Bitcoin ETF that tracks the price of Bitcoin. Each ETF will differ depending on who issues it. Companies that offer ETFs include Grayscale, Galaxy Digital, and Gemini.

5. Invest in crypto mining companies such as Riot, Hive, and Marathon. Many mining companies let investors participate indirectly by offering equity in their companies. To invest in Riot, use an American-based online broker like Robinhood. To invest in Hive and Marathon, use a Canadian-based broker like Questrade, TD Direct Investing, or BMO InvestorLine.

6. Buy crypto hardware and mine cryptocurrency yourself. While Bitcoin mining requires a large capital outlay, there are other tokens you can mine for a reasonably low barrier to entry. For example, Helium miners cost roughly $500 and mint HNT using the 'proof of coverage' consensus protocol to verify new blocks. Get started with cryptocurrency mining by reading our short guide on Bitcoin mining.

7. Invest in mining pools. An alternative to mining cryptocurrency yourself is to join a mining pool. Mining pools pool together the computational power of others on the network to improve the chances of mining a block. The rewards for all blocks mined are shared among miners in the pool. Slush Pool is a popular mining pool.

Blockchain Companies to Invest in 2021
If you're looking to get started with crypto investing, we've created a comprehensive step-by-step guide you can follow to get started here: How To Invest in Cryptocurrencies: The Ultimate Beginners Guide
Here is a comprehensive list of public blockchain companies to invest in. We have segmented them based on these categories: banking, supply chain, health care, energy, insurance, travel, real estate, exchanges, and mining.

These public companies are either using blockchain, have cryptocurrency on their balance sheets, allow you to trade cryptocurrency, or are mining cryptocurrency.
*Technically, Binance is not a public company, but you can invest in it by purchasing their own digital currency (BNB). You can use their currency to pay for transaction and trading fees on the exchange. This is also true for DeFi exchanges like Uniswap, 1inch, and PancakeSwap.
Traditional Finance and Blockchain Investment Strategies

In some ways, the process of investing in shares and cryptocurrencies is the same. First, you can buy cryptocurrencies on exchanges like you can buy shares through an online broker.

Second, you are also able to apply traditional investment principles to investing in cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. For example, you can invest the same amount of money into Bitcoin each month regardless of price (dollar-cost averaging) to remove any emotion out of the investment process.

But there are also investment strategies that are unique to the blockchain and cryptocurrencies, like yield farming.

Read on to learn about ten common traditional finance and blockchain investment strategies you can use when investing in public blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies.

Overview of 10 Major Investment Strategies

1. Growth Investing: Investors look for companies that demonstrate above-average growth. Investors using this strategy will often still invest in shares even if they seem expensive.To narrow down your search, focus on industries currently doing well or have historically performed. With the blockchain technology market expected to grow in size, there are bound to be several companies with strong growth potential.

2. Value Investing: Investors look for undervalued companies, e.g., their price doesn't fully reflect their value. Successful value investing often requires that you hold your shares for the long term.

3. Dividend Growth Investing: Investors invest in companies that have a history of paying out dividends. You can look at a company's financial statements to see if they pay out dividends. Look for a yield of between 2-6%.

4. Indexing: This is more of a cautious and passive investment strategy, but indexed investors often outperform more active investors. These investors typically invest in an index fund.An index fund consists of pooled funds from investors, is managed by a fund manager, and automatically invests in the companies of a specific index like the S&P 500 to effectively track against the index's performance.It is different from an ETF in that you can only buy or sell index funds at the end of the day and not throughout. An example of a cryptocurrency index fund is the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW).

5. Day Trading: Day trading is a more active and aggressive short-term trading strategy. Investors frequently trade throughout the day to capitalize on small market movements to make a profit. Day traders will use technical analysis to develop trade ideas around how the market will move. Day trading cryptocurrency is equally lucrative and risky due to highly volatile assets.

6. Algorithmic Trading: Also known as automatic trading, this investment strategy involves using computer programs to execute trades based on pre-programmed instructions such as price, time, etc. A large portion of the American market consists of algorithmic trading. AlgoTrader is an automated trading program you can use for Bitcoin trading.

7. Contrarian Investing: Contrarian investors purposely go against the market sentiment. They buy when people are selling and sell when people are buying.By following the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index, you can get a good idea of the prevailing sentiment in the Bitcoin market and then do the opposite: buy when people are fearful and sell when they're greedy (see Fear & Greed Index below).

8. Arbitrage: This strategy involves taking advantage of price differences of the same asset between markets. You buy the asset in one market and then sell it for a higher price in another.Because cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin often differ in price between countries, there are great opportunities to profit from this strategy.In a nutshell, traders will buy cryptocurrency on an overseas exchange (for a lower price) and then transfer it to a local exchange and sell it for a higher price.As Business Tech reports, you can make 2-4% per trade using the right investment platform. Just make sure you follow local exchange control laws because there are usually limits to how much local currency you can move beyond the borders.

9. Yield Farming: This blockchain-specific investment strategy involves lending your cryptocurrency to someone else via smart contracts.The lendee pays you a fee for your services. Yield farmers often move their cryptocurrency between different lending platforms to maximize returns. A few yield farming platforms include Compound Finance, Aave, and MarketDAO. Learn more about DeFi yield farming.

10. Diversification: Spread your risk and invest in different assets and companies to limit your overall downside while exposing you to more opportunities to make money. Diversification is more than just an investment strategy; it's a smart way to invest that most financial experts and brokers encourage.This strategy works well for traditional finance and cryptocurrency.In traditional markets, you can spread risk across bonds, money markets, and shares- and even diversify your share portfolio by investing across industries.For cryptocurrencies and blockchain, you can invest in different public blockchain companies and also cryptocurrencies with different use cases like Bitcoin (payments), Ethereum (smart contracts), Monero (privacy), and XRP (cross border payments).If you really want to prioritize diversification, you should invest across traditional and crypto markets, and rebalance your portfolio as needed.

Blockchain Is the Present and the Future

With many promising real-world use cases like faster cross-border payments and smart contracts, blockchain technology is here to stay.

As more companies realize how the blockchain can help them, they'll commit more resources, money, and time into the technology-and even more use cases will emerge. While we understand that blockchain technology will remain a complex topic for many, it really doesn't have to be for you.

We hope this guide gave you the confidence to have conversations with friends and acquaintances about the blockchain and that it demystified and simplified an often scary topic. Refer to it whenever you need to brush up on any blockchain concepts.

Most importantly, we hope it lit a small fire in you to learn even more about a technology that's fundamentally changing the way we trust and exchange value.

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Blockchain For Beginners: What Is Blockchain Technology? A Step-by-Step Guide

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What is blockchain technology? What makes it so important? Imagine a world where you can send money directly to someone without a bank - in seconds instead of days, and you don't pay exorbitant bank fees. Or one where you store money in an online wallet not tied to a bank, meaning you are your own bank and have complete control over your money.