Blockchain is not a new technology, but the world is just beginning to discover it’s value in our evolving digital world. If you’re interested in what’s up and coming in the world of blockchain, keep an eye on the following companies. Each one is disrupting the way we work, share and secure the digital world we live in; one big idea at a time.
Dispatch Labs
Industry: Development
Business relies on technology, especially cloud applications that make it easier to share, collaborate and access documents and assets anytime, anywhere. These applications, however, suffer from lack of scalability, downtime and increasingly expensive hosting costs. While the blockchain offers an opportunity to change that, the creators at Dispatch Labs believe current blockchain protocols need to be updated first—and they’re making that happen.
They explain on their website: “Dispatch enables any data-driven application to transition to blockchain easily. The Dispatch protocol securely stores data off-chain, while managing that data through extensible smart contracts, and is built for long-term scalability, security, and versatility.”
As blockchain becomes more ubiquitous within society, and especially in business, their product will improve functionality and the ability to securely store data.
Experty
Industry: Networking
Developers are always learning, and Experty is making it easier for that to happen with a new blockchain-based platform. The company’s initial plan is to give blockchain experts a platform to sell their time: “Our current focus is on solving the talent crisis in the blockchain community by allowing experts to monetize their skills through a Skype-like voice and video application.”
Users can pay for one-on-one calls with experts, converse via group texting, attend webinars, and make all payments via smart contracts and Experty’s native token, EXY. As the platform grows, so will the base of experts available to users, making it a valuable product for professional development.
Note that Experty is not a searchable marketplace; experts can share their Experty contact information anywhere and with anyone—and payments are then facilitated through the platform.
Elastos
Industry: Development
Elastos is one of China’s G3 blockchain companies and had an initial goal, in 2000, of developing “the world’s first Internet Operating System.” Now, nearly 20 years later, the company creating a “blockchain powered Internet” is still one to watch. When they tapped into the power of blockchain in 2017, Elastos created the Smart Web with a new important goal: support large-scale decentralized applications.
Head to their website to learn more about the four pillars of the Smart Web. As DApps become more important and relevant in our online world, platforms like Elastos will become increasingly valuable to developers.
PolySwarm
Industry: Cyber Security
Today’s $8.5 billion/year threat intelligence (anti-virus) market is broken. A whopping 70 percent of threats go undetected and cybercrime damages are expected to double by 2021 and reach 6 trillion USD dollars, according to Cyber Security Ventures. PolySwarm, a new player in the blockchain space, is using the technology to disrupt what we know to be the norm in cybersecurity.
Thanks to blockchain’s inherently distributed nature, PolySwarm’s ecosystem will allow for “crowdsourced” security, where security experts are also incentivized—via their utility token, Nectar (NCT)—to innovate, continue learning and submit correct assertions. The platform will also make it possible for cybersecurity organizations who choose to plug into the ecosystem to provide more robust security and avoid the overlap in coverage that’s commonplace right now.
TrustToken
Industry: Investing
There are $256 trillion in real-world assets: which includes “every bar of gold, every barrel of oil, every piece of real estate,” says Kristin Houser, author for Futurism. The problem:
“Unfortunately, the processes used to trade these assets are outdated. Transactions can take weeks or even months to complete and may include massive amounts of red tape, numerous fees, and geographical restrictions. For these reasons and more, investors may be wary of taking part in these potentially lucrative markets,” explains Houser.
Enter TrustToken, the safe and secure platform bridging the gap between blockchain and these assets. The platform relies on smart contracts and recognition of ownership with legal institutions—if contractual agreements and instructions are not followed or met, consequences are enforced under civil and criminal law.
While other organizations have tried to create a similar product, they’ve lacked the security and legal enforcement necessary to make it usable. As such, TrustToken’s applications are wide-reaching, and has the potential to provide significant value to growing industries like real estate and investing.
CoinLancer
Industry: Freelance
By 2020, the freelance economy will represent 40 percent of the American Workforce, according to a recent Intuit Report. As such, the need for platforms that can facilitate work and payment in a secure manner is needed. That’s where CoinLancer, a new UpWork-style platform, comes in. They use blockchain and digital currency to increase transparency between client and freelancer. The best part is: the process works the same as most freelancers are already familiar with—parties connect, work is done, money is paid.
The key piece, however, is the second step, in which funds are deposited into an Escrow account. Thanks to smart contracts, that money is released to the freelancer when agreed upon work is completed; no arguing about payment or chasing people down.
All payments are made via CoinLancer’s token but can be transferred to traditional currency, or a number of other digital currencies including BTC, BCH, LTC, ETH, and DASH. Be sure to check out their FAQ for details about participating.
