BLOCKCHAIN WATCH 12/18/16

Blockchain is dead, long live the blockchain

Despite the discussions surrounding blockchain’s demise, it’s too early to rule out the potential for blockchain adoption, writes Chris Skinner for The Finanser blog. “We saw this with the internet (a boom and bust and boom); mobile (it’s only for yuppies but now I can’t live without one); and the PC (who needs a computer in the home?). We’ll see this with blockchain and, like those previous technologies, it will fulfill the Bill Gates quote of overestimating the speed and underestimating the impact this technology will have.”

Making the bitcoin blockchain more like Ethereum 2.0

The RSK Federation, a group of more than 25 major companies operating in bitcoin, is leading the charge to make bitcoin able to support decentralized applications like Ethereum currently does. The group officially launched in August, and its primary goal is to build a smart-contract layer on top of bitcoin to support more applications, according to Bitcoin XYZ.

A16z, USV Invest $10 million in blockchain token trading firm

Andreessen Horowitz, Boost VC, Union Square Ventures and other undisclosed backers are using alternative assets like bitcoin to invest, according to Coindesk. Carlson-Wee explained, “I think these tokens are very important. They directly monetize the open-source founders and founding teams at a protocol level. We’ve already seen many founders of blockchain networks get rich based on their creation.”