The rise of cryptocurrency and blockchain

Assuming that you didn't live a secluded life as a hermit on a mountain in 2017, you would have heard all about cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin. You didn't have to look far to hear about the soaring popularity of this topic, its terminology, and its growth in value. At this point, other cryptocurrencies also began to grow, making way for headlines such as Ethereum reaches $1,000! During this craze, people discussed everything about cryptocurrency, from the swinging price to the technology behind it, which is blockchain.

Blockchain was regarded as the technology that would bring the dawn of a new era of justice and prosperity for mankind. It would democratize wealth. It would take the power away from the oligarchy and give it back to the people. It would protect the data of the people. Then came 2018, and cryptocurrency went down. The party was over. Bitcoin now sits at $6,000, while Ethereum sits at less than $400.

However, despite the fact that the hype surrounding cryptocurrency had died down, it still continues to be a regular point of discussion. Blockchain conferences and meetups are cropping up in many places, while investments keep pouring into blockchain startups. Andreessen Horowitz, a giant name in Silicon Valley, secured as much as $300 million from its limited partner in a dedicated blockchain fund. [1] In this case, the opportunities lie where the money flows into. Katheryn Griffith Hill, a lead recruiter at Blockchain Developers, claims that [2] there are currently fourteen blockchain developer positions available for every blockchain developer. In addition, a friend of mine who attended a local blockchain event in Jakarta commented on this, stating that I could see around one hundred audience members, but there were only around four or five developers. 50% of the audience were investors. There are people who want to put money into blockchain, but there are fewer people who are capable of developing the product.

Blockchain started to be used as a payment solution without the middleman, namely Bitcoin. Then, people found out that blockchain has some other properties that are interesting. First, it is transparent, meaning people can audit it to check whether there is money laundering going on or not. Second, it gives to some extent privacy for users, which can be used to avoid profiling.

Then, after Ethereum was released, people suddenly became creative with how to apply blockchain in real life. From creating a token to represent ownership of something, such as an autonomous organization or payment with full privacy, to digital assets that cannot be duplicated (unlike MP3 files).