BLOCKCHAIN WATCH 12/26/16

Collaboration will drive blockchain’s success

The tools built for blockchain are largely designed with developers in mind, which makes creating tools for consumer blockchain interaction difficult, Richard Collin writes for CoinDesk. As 2017 quickly approaches, collaboration is key. If developers work with commercial organizations and they both work with consumers, the better the results will be.

Meet the 27-year-old mathematician building a bitcoin empire

Marco Steng founded Genesis Mining in 2013. Today, it’s the largest bitcoin cloud mining company in the world, drawing in more than 300,000 daily customers and growing to employ more than 100 full-time employees from around the world, according to Forbes.

Why blockchain fails—and when it will succeed

We’re still waiting on blockchain to fulfill its promises to revamp legal contracts and land registries. Experiments so far have not lived up to the hype, but that doesn’t mean that blockchain is a total wash, writes Jeff John Roberts for Fortune. “Blockchain has clearly shifted from a sexy phase to a boring one. But that doesn’t mean that, by this time next year, the whole story won’t change again.”