One of the most frequently used questions by TGE investors and potential customers alike is, ‘Why does this project need the blockchain?’ writes Sylo Co-Founder Ben Jordan.
Contributed By Ben Jordan, SYLO Co-Founder & Product Director
It’s a question I respect when it is asked of Sylo, and a question that all potential token businesses should answer before they progress their whitepaper beyond back-of-napkin flow diagrams. The answer to this question is fundamental to everything your token business will stand for.
If you can’t answer why your business HAS to be on the blockchain, don’t tokenise.
In my mind, there are only three possible reasons a business belongs on the blockchain.
Firstly, the token is a security that represents an equity holding in the business (or some other asset); secondly, the service’s data needs to be stored in a way that ensures no single party can manipulate it. Finally, if the service needs to be decentralised for reasons of autonomy.
Get in one of these three categories and you are good to go 😉
Sylo doesn’t fall into a), somewhat falls into b) and firmly fits into c).
Let me explain;
Sylo uses the blockchain where it makes sense with respect to data storage. We obviously don’t put your communications on the blockchain (there is no need for everyone in the network to reach consensus that you said something) but consensus does make sense for things like relationships. The other key use for the blockchain in Sylo’s context is for value exchange to incentivise the network… point c) above.
The key problem with communications solutions today is that there is a company sitting in the middle with a vast amount of control and influence over their users, their user’s data, and the ongoing direction of the product and network. This influence has been earned by this company intentionally (it’s exactly what their solutions have been built to achieve) because this is quite handy when you want to make money!
Our decentralised solution is intentionally built to remove the ability for a single entity (us included 😊) to have this control, influence and visibility over the network.
This fundamentally changes the game, because it means there is no party with the ability to unfairly extract value from users – something that the centralised internet of today has incentivised.
Our communication network therefore requires the blockchain as an absolute necessity in order to pay resources for providing to the network in a way that doesn’t rely on our company.
Anyone will be able to earn tokens in exchange for providing a piece of what one big centralised company provides by themselves through other communication applications.
In other words, the Sylo network is autonomous; which solves the problems inherent in the centralised structure of communication solutions today.
Sylo has to be on the blockchain.
Gone are the days when calling something blockchain will raise your business’s value.
Investors are smarter than that now; which is a great thing for our industry as it matures beyond hype into substance…
Read more from Ben Jordan and the Sylo team on Medium or ask a question about the Sylo project now on Telegram.
