HACKER Q&A
📣 rahuldottech

What is so great about blockchain?


I have a question, what is it about blockchain that's so attractive to every new startup or idea nowadays?

New social network? Blockchain!

New news platform? Blockchain!

I get what blockchain is. I get how it's used in cryptocurrency transactions. But will someone please explain why it's being incorporated into industries that always have done (and IMO can continue to do) just fine without it?

I skim through this [1] list, and see no clear benefit to incorporating blockchain into most/all of these? Most of them seem to be using it as 'secure database' or something.

[1]: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/04/11/20-real-world-uses-for-blockchain-technology.aspx

  👤 schoen Accepted Answer ✓
I would consider something like https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/375.pdf which shows why blockchains aren't relevant or useful for most of these use cases. In that case, it's probably, sadly, a matter of attracting investors through hype.
👤 disposedtrolley
Not much. Its attractiveness from a business perspective is that it’s an easy sell to heavily politicised companies where you won’t get budget to implement something unless your proposal is buzzword-laden.
👤 Porthos9K
Blockchain is just the newest trendy snake oil.