If you hang out in blockchain circles for more than a moment you will undoubtedly hear about smart contracts. In 2017, when blockchain was the disruptive technology du jour, crypto pundits at the time claimed that smart contracts would quickly disintermediate escrow companies, freight forwarders, medical insurance claim processors, financial clearinghouses, and middlemen across all industries. Five years later, none of these “disruptions” have happened nor are they close to happening. Traditional intermediaries continue to enjoy their place in their respective industries. While Ethereum, the crypto network which is the basis for the nascent but heavily hyped DeFi (Decentralized Finance) phenomenon, and the overhyped NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens), has come a long way in terms of market value, few smart contract applications founded on it have scaled to a degree to pose a threat to traditional contractual media or networks.
Continue readingCan CXO’s Bank on the Promise of Blockchains?
Today’s CXO is often faced with making decisions before all the aspects of an emerging technology are known. Take for example Blockchain technologies, something that there is a lot of talk about, as well as perceived need, yet still shrouded in mystery. Add to that the intricacies of edge computing and CXOs start to tread in uncertain territories. The potential intersection of edge computing and blockchain deserves a much closer look before CXOs pull the trigger.
Continue readingHow to Leverage IoT Opportunities in the Metaverse
hat would you get if the IoT (Internet of Things) and the metaverse got together and had a baby? What are the opportunities that might arise out of that union or intersection? To be honest, this is probably one of the more difficult prognostications to make. Why? Well, what is the metaverse? What is the IoT?
Continue readingThe Democratization of 5G Everything
The original telco central offices of the past had legacy mainframe-like telephone switches with legacy voice features, which was ideal in the 1980’s and 1990’s but are archaic today. With VoIP over LTE in the cloud, these local offices can be re-architected into 5G nano-datacenters that provide very low latency fixed and mobile access and distributed edge computing that will enable new and innovative hyperconverged IT/CT applications and services that avail new business models and network monetization opportunities for operators.
Continue readingTransforming The Healthcare Industry with Blockchain
Special guest, Anca Petre, COO of 23 Consulting joins neXt Curve to discuss how the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are applying Blockchain technologies to create new value and reshape their industry model. What is the Blockchain promise and what is possible versus hype?
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Internet of Things World 2018: Key Takeaways
neXt Curve Research Principal, Dean Freeman, attended the Internet of Things World 2018 trade show that took place May 14th to the 17th at the Santa Clara Convention Center to gain insight on what is new and happening in the world of the IoT.
Continue readingTokenization: Fueling the Blockchain Business Model
With the rapid decline in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, attention has been shifting toward Blockchain, the technology that underlies cryptocurrency applications. We have heard a lot about tokens but what are they and what role do they play in the Blockchain story? Special guest, Omar Rahim, CEO of Energi Mine and Lawrence Lerner, CEO of RChain Holdings, joined neXt Curve to discuss the importance of the token in the context of business model design and the creation of new and transformative economic value leveraging Blockchain technology.
Continue readingBitcoin & Blockchain: The Semantic & Conceptual Disconnects That Get in The Way of Value
Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain are tremendously misunderstood and misrepresented in the media and within the industry today. The challenge in properly understanding Blockchain and its applications such as Bitcoin is rooted in the fact that Bitcoin is neither a technology, a currency or digital gold. It is what people think and imagine it to be at the moment, which is the problem that also infects the discourse around Blockchain.
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Blockchain Solutions Forum 2017: Key Takeaways
Business leaders need to tread carefully. The Blockchain gold rush is on and there is plenty of fool’s gold out there. However, just like the Internet, technologies such as Blockchain can have significant implications for your business and industry and should be taken seriously.
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