To foster effective growth in the blockchain sector, there is a dire need for these various blockchain companies to collaborate with each other for a properly developed and organised framework

Our generation has witnessed quite a number of technological developments that have rattled industries and disrupted our everyday life in a seemingly positive manner. One of such technologies is the development of blockchain.

Since the advent of Bitcoin in 2009, the technology behind the cryptocurrency has grown in leaps and bounds. The distributed ledger tech came with its capacity to offer a decentralised framework ladened with transparency and security. Several sectors including finance and healthcare have, in one way or another, explored the many potentials blockchain has to offer.

Blockchain came around at a time when there’s a yearning for transparency in transactions and online dealings. Internet users and online transaction dealers clamour for a platform that will provide transparency in transactions carried out to enhance confidence and trust. Also, the desire for freedom from central control especially in online transactions where most power lies in the hands of central authorities has become stronger.

Blockchain technology brought along its purely decentralised framework which gives all parties equity in control of information. The level of security details involved with the technology makes it quite difficult to tamper with.

These solutions and capacities offered by blockchain is what has earned the technology a steady growth in adoption. As of 2018 over 85% of banks in Europe and North America were already exploring blockchain technology to enhance their financial systems. The financial sector has already spent over $550 million on blockchain with intention to still continue investment.

Statistics also show that there has been a steady rise in the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain wallets, as there are currently over 25 million blockchain wallet users globally. Countries like China and Malta rank highest in interest in blockchain on a massive scale. Major corporations like IBM and Facebook have also expressed interest in integrating blockchain technology with their operations. It is safe to say that blockchain technology is steadily in an upward movement and its only a matter of time before it becomes part of our everyday lives.

The Need for Collaboration

However, despite the increased adoption rate of blockchain, the situation could be far better if blockchain organisations adopt a symbiotic relationship or endeavour to collaborate with one another.

Several blockchain organisations have developed and are developing their own blockchains, e.g. Ethereum, Ontology, EOS and many more — with different standards and protocols. However, to foster effective growth in the blockchain sector there’s a dire need for these various blockchain companies to collaborate with each other for a properly developed and organised framework.

When these companies focus on their core competencies and work or complement each other, the rate of blockchain adoption globally will experience a major boost. For instance, in the financial sector, a recent proof of concept collaboration between IBM and CLS for LedgerConnect – a blockchain-based platform that allows service providers to build blockchain solutions for ease of access and consumption in the marketplace aims to boost the financial sector. Another example also, is the we.trade collaboration.

One way blockchain platforms can also work together is building interoperability bridges between two different protocols which allows smooth operation of digital assets and cryptocurrencies across the different platforms. Another is building better platforms for business end users to easily deploy services and not worry about the technical complexities.

Also read: 10 crazy blockchain ideas for Facebook

Furthermore, when many different protocols are being concurrently developed, standardisation within the blockchain industry becomes a challenge. Industry standardisation for security is a must to prevent double spending attacks, such as the one suffered by Ethereum Classic. Thus, auditing source code becomes important and requires collaboration among developers to identify and secure blockchain solutions.

Public blockchains such as Ethereum and EOS make source codes openly available where developers worldwide can collaborate for technical review. When companies and developers help audit source codes for public blockchains, it also invariably enhances the blockchain industry as a whole.

Recently, Ultrain, a high performance public blockchain, demonstrated its willingness to work with industry peers to improve infrastructure security and promote healthy development of the industry. Their technical team recently discovered an EOS bug – an underlying implementation with a fatal security vulnerability that can cause the EOS network to be completely paralysed — and suggested solutions for the EOS team.

Ultrain is public blockchain optimised for commercial use which would help to construct a robust blockchain ecosystem that empowers a vast range of industries. The company extending a hand of collaboration to other players in the industry goes to show their acknowledgement of the importance of synergy in the blockchain industry.

In another exemplary move of collaboration by Ultrain, they recently partnered with Yoho!  The company, a leader in consumer experience, highly aware of interests of sneaker-lovers recently- to deliver a blockchain-powered sneaker authenticity solution for the state-of-the-art UFO (Unique Fashion Object) platform. Ultrain serves as the Blockchain-as-a-Service choice for the Chinese streetwear leader, Yoho!, which launched an online sneaker trading platform, UFO. The collaboration creates an avenue for the digitization of sneakers thus providing an advanced technical system for tracking product authenticity.

It is quite important to create real business partnerships and collaborations as in all the examples above. These will help enhance the blockchain industry as a whole and continue to foster growth and an increased adoption rate globally.

Blockchain technology indeed offers a lot of of capabilities and solutions. However, for a faster and effective global adoption rate, the need for collaboration among the various platforms and organisations cannot be overemphasised. There’s no telling the end possibilities achievable when players in the industry collaborate.

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