Debunking Blockchain and Smart Contract Development Misconceptions

Blockchain has been dominating tech news recently with reports of how decentralized applications, otherwise known as dApps, are providing a way to disrupt the status quo as we know it. Even with blockchain’s vast potential to make financial transactions less ambiguous and promote transparency through dApps, not all companies have welcomed this new tech with open arms. Google, Facebook and Mailchimp are a few tech giants that are currently banning blockchain and crypto-related ads that pertain to ICOs, cryptocurrencies and select blockchain-related materials. However, other companies such as IBM and Oracle have chosen to embrace blockchain and the benefits related to smart contract development. Many businesses are wary of blockchain technology because of the common misconceptions about it. The best way to win companies over is by debunking these misconceptions and promoting the benefits of using blockchain.

One major worry for businesses is that they feel the technology isn’t secure enough and would result in hackers stealing their cryptocurrency without any paper trail to trace. It is common for many people to not fully trust a new technology in the beginning. According to this article from Forbes, three of the 11 common myths about blockchain are: “Information on blockchain activity isn’t publicly available,” “Blockchain will change everything about business transactions” and “Crypto transactions are anonymous.” The common theme here is the perceived insecurity and instability of blockchain. If companies continue to believe such misguided views, they will miss the opportunity to implement smart contract development within their platform, something that can make transactions much easier. The idea that information isn’t publicly available on the blockchain is false, considering the transparency of the blockchain that allows for easy traceability. Blockchain does aim to change business transactions but more to allow transactions to be relatively painless and completed faster. Blockchain also allows for transactions to be completed securely. Crypto transactions being anonymous may worry businesses due to the sense that if anyone were to hack into their platform and steal their crypto coins, the hacker would be untraceable. In fact, due to the transparency of the blockchain, public ledgers can track how much crypto was sent from one address to another. Such common misconceptions can prove detrimental to businesses in the long run. If businesses miss out on the opportunity to implement smart contract development or other blockchain features within their platforms, they will be stuck using old tech.

As mentioned previously, a major reason businesses should consider building dApps is for smart contracts. But why should businesses focus so much on smart contract development? For starters, according to this post on Hackernoon, several major companies such as IBM and Microsoft now offer blockchain solutions and implementation services to enterprise-level companies. Even though certain tech giants shun blockchain, there are those who recognize its potential and are moving forward. But what about in relation to dApps and new blockchain-based companies? Blockchain has been appealing to startups nationwide with thousands of startup engines revving up to capitalize on this new technology. Smart contract platforms are also seen as a sensible solution for many issues such as allowing for businesses to create and manage their own blockchain smart contracts and process payments using cryptocurrencies. This ability to allow businesses to be more independent and free from third parties is a major reason that smart contract development within dApps is important for businesses to explore further.