I'm no blockchain expert, but I have played a lot of pickup basketball in my day.
What does one have to do with the other, you ask? Apparently, a lot. Most people have some understanding of how a pickup basketball game works: People show up, pick teams, announce the score after each basket, call their own fouls. First team to 11 wins. With no coaches, no refs, no scorekeepers, it’s democratic, self-policing and generally decent basketball.
That’s also a good way to look at blockchain (which very few understand), says Akron entrepreneur Eric Ward in this month’s feature, “Chain Reaction.” At its most basic, blockchain is a shared ledger technology that allows transactions to be open, self-verifying, documented and secure without some middleman or regulator mucking things up.
Some people believe blockchain could transform our lives as profoundly as the internet did about 30 years ago.
That’s why luxury car dealer Bernie Moreno and a host of civic leaders, tech entrepreneurs and more than 1,200 volunteers are pushing Blockland, an initiative to make Northeast Ohio a hub for blockchain development, research and training. They’re proposing a conference in December, a 300,000-square-foot startup incubator and more.
It’s certainly a big, hairy, audacious goal — risky, forward-thinking, collaborative and fast. And it’s not at all how we’re used to playing as a community.
But it needs to be, because the blockchain game is heating up quickly. In June, Stanford University computer scientists launched the Center for Blockchain Research, while cryptocurrency startup Ripple pledged $50 million (in actual dollars) toward the University Blockchain Research Initiative at 17 universities worldwide.
A month earlier, De Beers Group used blockchain technology in a pilot project — (which includes Akron-based Signet Jewelers) to digitally track 100 high-value diamonds from the mine to the cutter to the jeweler. Customers can know with certainty their gemstone was sourced ethically and follow every step it took to their ring finger.
There’s a long way to go before we know whether blockchain is just another shiny object or something of real value. Am I sold on Blockland being a success? No. There are all kinds of things working against us, but there’s also a chance it could be a LeBron James-style game changer for our region. We’re very likely the short kid on the playground. But there comes a time when you have to get in the game and take your shot.
