Driving mass adoption of blockchain

To become ‘palatable’, blockchain solutions need to reach devices that are ubiquitous. The average smartphone can be the most viable vehicle for this mammoth task.

By Aniket Jindal

Technology has always evolved to become mainstream and publicly accessible, and the entry of smartphones stands as a testament to this fact. However, with emerging technologies such as distributed ledger technology, we’re heading towards decentralization and free flow of information, resources, and assets.

Blockchain technology, as revolutionary as it is, is still nascent and is shaped to fit the needs of the masses. A great way to make blockchain solutions ‘palatable’, as it were, would be to take it to devices that are ubiquitously used; the average smartphone would be the most viable vehicle for this mammoth task.

State of smartphone usage

Smartphones are characterized by their signature capability to combine telephonic and computing functions in one portable device. One of the many factors in accelerating the ubiquity of smartphones has been user-friendly applications that provide a myriad of services with a single click.

While smartphone applications have seen great success, their biggest pitfalls have been with data security and privacy concerns. According to a NowSecure benchmark test of 250 popular Android apps, 92% of online retail apps, 67% of travel apps, and 50% of financial and insurance apps have leaked sensitive user data. This is where blockchain-based decentralized applications can help.

dApps for the win?

Since its debut in 2008 as the tech infrastructure for Bitcoin, blockchain technology has shown its relevance by growing into an industry valued at USD758.06 billion (2020). With innovation focused on interfacing with smartphones, dApps can break through the current ubiquity barrier and offer efficient, decentralized solutions. Furthermore, efforts towards mass adoption are underway with the web 3.0 wave consisting of decentralized finance (Defi), decentralized apps (dApps), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), etc. Web 3.0 is the new-age decentralized internet aimed at eliminating problems with data extraction, security breaches, and exclusivity of blockchain technology.

Web 3.0 is the natural evolution of the internet, as more devices and people get connected to the web. The key idea, apart from decentralization and trust minimization, is the involvement of machines – artificial intelligence (AI) systems and smart contracts, etc. – as intelligent agents in the decision-making process.

Blockchain-based solutions built via decentralized apps can fit snugly in this space, making it a viable entry point to cater to the average Joe. To put that into perspective, dApps, if built the right way, can reach six billion smartphone users worldwide. In fact, dApps are looked upon as a solution due to their inherent strengths that help bring in transparency, immutability, and decentralization, besides being accessible and economically feasible.

Transparency: Blockchain technology relies on its decentralized and transparent system. Thus, dApps, being based on a public blockchain or a peer-to-peer network (P2P), are secure and less prone to activities like data theft or data extraction by a central authority.

Immutability: Blockchain technology is immutable. Once added, information cannot be changed or modified on the chain. dApps provide the same immutability and permanent record-keeping, which means no data lost.

Decentralization: Since dApps are based on a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) technology with multiple distributed networks, there can be no unilateral changes or monopoly of any kind. To make any modification, one requires the participation of all the elements on the network.

Accessibility: Irrespective of geographies and demographics, everyone can get the same access to every feature and benefit on a dApp.

Economic feasibility: On the feasibility front, dApps are economical as they require less processing time and less human capital due to no heavy machinery requirements.

Automation: At the backend, most dApps are smart contracts. This enables a lot of operations to be easily automated.

The catalyst for blockchain adoption: With its promise of a less tech-intensive and more end-user-focused format, dApps are a sure way to enter into and exploit the advantages of blockchain technology to its fullest potential.

Shaping a dApp-er future

Given the current barriers to entry in terms of user experience, KYC, and data immutability, dApps have not reached their peak yet, but industry leaders in the space are constantly working towards making it a viable alternative to current mobile applications.

Today, we have several functioning dApps and space is expanding with third parties such as Biconomy, Covalent, and Radar Relay, etc. entering the space with their own simplifying solutions that encourage user adoption. Experts agree that dApps as an alternative to today’s mobile applications are possible and smartphone adaptability would be a significant achievement towards this.

Jindal is Co-Founder, Biconomy

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