Why Onchain is the new Online
Whenever I get the opportunity to discuss the future of blockchain technology, I’m reminded of a video featuring Bill Gates from 1995. In the video, Gates tries to explain what the internet is and its inevitable impact on our future. Despite his efforts, each point he made was met with skepticism, accompanied by the audience’s laughter.
For those of us who have never known a world without the internet, it’s easy to wonder, “how could they not see what was coming?” Yet, just over 29 years ago, the internet was a novel concept only envisioned by early adopters who dared to imagine an interconnected global community.
Fast forward to today, and the progress is nothing short of astonishing.
Onchain: More Than Just Technology
While you may not need help defining what online means, not everyone is familiar with the term "Onchain."
“Onchain” is used to describe every activity that happens directly on the blockchain, meaning the activity is recorded and verified on the blockchain. In contrast, “offchain” describes activities that occur off the blockchain but can be recorded or summarized on the blockchain later.
Technology is constantly evolving, and we are currently in a transition phase from simple digital interactions to an ownership-centered economy onchain. This evolution can be summarised as the progression from Read-only -> read and write -> read, write, and own.
Online & The Flaws of Centralisation
The internet changed our lives forever. The internet brought with it opportunities and opened ways for innovation previously nonexistent. It redefined every aspect of our day-to-day existence.
There was also a rise of formerly non-existent careers and opportunities. This shift not only created jobs in technology sectors like software development and digital marketing but also in less directly connected fields such as influencer marketing and content creation. The internet became a fertile ground for entrepreneurs and innovators, driving forward new industries and ideas.
However, as groundbreaking as it was, the internet’s centralised nature also introduced several significant flaws—predominantly, the imbalance of power in favour of big tech companies. These companies often exploit user contributions without fair compensation, evident in platforms like social media platforms that thrive on the content created by their users, yet the creators receive little returns.
The flaws go beyond just the finances to data theft, targeted ads, and many privacy violation flaws. There is a lot to discuss when talking about the fundamental flaws of the internet today, but I’m not going to bore you with all the details.
What’s important to understand is that “Onchain” goes beyond tech. It is tech plus the ethos of a user-centered, ownership-driven web - a decentralised web.
The Inevitable Transition
Blockchain is redefining our lives just as the internet did, impacting everything from finance to identity and ownership. Its core pillars—Decentralisation, Ownership, Privacy, Openness, and Inclusivity—ensure a fairer, more inclusive, and transparent system.
Decentralisation: “Onchain” decentralises control, distributing it across the entire network, which makes the system fairer for all participants.
Ownership: You control your digital assets onchain, a stark contrast to older systems where your content could be appropriated or deleted without consent.
Privacy: Onchain technology ensures that your personal information remains private, letting you choose what to share and with whom.
Openness and Inclusivity: This builds trust and sparks innovation, as everyone can contribute to and benefit from the system regardless of their background or financial status.
Current and Emerging Onchain Activities
Like the early days of the internet, we are just beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible onchain. However, here are a few examples of onchain activities and what might be next:
Decentralised Financial Transactions:
Current Use: Cryptocurrency transactions, lending, and borrowing without the need for traditional banks.
Future Potential: More complex financial solution like decentralised insurance could become very common. This will build people’s trust in the insurance industry cause of transparency.
Digital Identity Verification
Current Use: Blockchain-based systems that provide secure and immutable identity verification.
Future Potential: Universal onchain digital identities that could be used for seamless access to services worldwide, from banking to voting. Basically, you own your identity and can carry it with you across different platforms.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Current Use: Representing ownership of unique digital items like artworks, collectibles, personal credentials and more.
Future Potential: Expanding to become globally acceptable as rights to physical assets, intellectual property, and even personal data.
Decentralised Social Media Platforms
Current Use: Platforms where users control their data and earn from their content without intermediaries.
Future Potential: Mainstream adoption of onchain social media platforms could shift the balance of power from large corporations to individual content creators and consumers. This way, you won’t wake up one day and all your content is gone because the platform decides to take it off. It’s your own space onchain and you own your content.
The Future is Onchain
Blockchain technology has come a long way, and this growth can be attributed to continuous innovation and iterations, the desire to improve and scale the ethos and tech that serves as the foundation of the industry.
When Bitcoin came into existence, the assumption was, no one would use it, then it moved to only criminals would adopt it, and today we have cryptocurrencies being traded on the biggest traditional finance blocks in the world. And we are still early.
The shift is already happening. It started with cryptocurrencies, to DeFi, NFTs, and every day we see the most dynamic use cases further pushing the boundaries of what is possible onchain. Builders are actively creating the future, leveraging on abstraction such that a few years from now, there’ll be no need to explain what “onchain” means to you.
The question isn't if it will happen, but how soon you'll be part of this new reality.