Luis Solano

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Title: The Merge Between Blockchain and Technology With Humans

       In 2021, the blockchain world gained traction. In this same year, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other altcoins entered a bull run and reached all time highs. Social media, news channels, and other outlets covered the blockchain world extensively. There was a previous time where the same thing happened, but on a smaller scale although still noticeable. This year was in late 2017 where it then entered a bearish market, and the attention it received dwindled throughout the coming months. Blockchain technology is not only cryptocurrencies, but the technology behind them and how they can get applied. Technology that will be in the form of headsets, glasses, and NFTs to name a few, have been on the radar of many since. The question that will be covered in the following paragraphs revolves around, “what problems come with adopting such technologies?”. 

Companies such as Facebook have renamed to Meta, a hint to the word “Metaverse”, meaning a network of virtual worlds that people can access via the use of technology. Similarly, Square also renamed, where they are now known as Block, a move to be known as a company of many things, including crypto. A lot of other companies have also kept their eye on virtual reality and blockchain technology as well. For example, companies such as Roblox, Sandbox, Disney, Decentraland and many others have started to emphasize their interests in the metaverse and have begun efforts to provide utilization in this realm. There has been overall mention of “Web 3.0”, which would revolve around blockchain technology and more. An era where the human can merge with technology and carry on with their responsibilities or pleasures. Technology is always being innovated. Whether it progresses quickly or at a slower pace. With the development of blockchain, emphasis on Web 3.0, and interests in decentralization, we have to consider the issues that may arise and not just the benefits. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are widely created and exchanged on the Ethereum network. There are other networks such as Solano where NFTs can also be minted or exchanged. The thing with this is that anybody who has the knowledge and necessary capital can create an NFT and place it for sale on the market. Since 2021, there has been an increase of thousands of NFT projects looking to be the next one that sells for millions. To stand out from other projects, there is extensive marketing and an emphasis on what utilities the project can provide. One example of utilities being provided is by giving an owner of an NFT collection exclusive access to masterminds, networks, business partners, and even elite parties. By continually growing popularity, the price also grows. Additionally, a project may have limited editions of such NFTs, which brings in the low relative supply for an increased demand. Taking into consideration both of these things, an NFT can be sold for millions of dollars, far out of the reach of millions of people. Giving an unfair advantage to those who do not have access to such funds, only the rich will continue to get benefits to potentially get more rich. Moreover, NFTs are still relatively new to millions of people. On top of this, it’s hard for people that have recently been introduced to this technology to differentiate legit projects from scammers. A question to ask about decentralization is, “is everyone on their own?”. The resources for people to learn about such technology and markets are still very relatively scarce. Overall, NFTs bring the potential problem of marginalizing certain demographics, communities, and also have a barrier and gap to entry. With this technology, the concern of widely used technology brings in the immediate question of “how sustainable is blockchain?”. For instance, Bitcoin was recently scrutinized by many with regards to its CO2 emissions. Due to mining being an active part of such cryptocurrencies, the use of hardware and electricity are also heavily required. Now, looking at the many other cryptocurrencies and technology all together, it makes sense to wonder how this could impact the environment and how this could be addressed. In El Salvador, a recently adopted “Bitcoin City” plans to minimize such environmental stress by using a non-active volcano to serve as a source of energy. With this, plans to maintain crypto and blockchain technology in a more sustainable manner is one example of how things could be changed. Many major mining companies have yet to deal with this. With Web 3.0 on the horizon, the use of technology, use of toxic metals to wildlife, and overall e-waste is a valid concern. Devices have a certain lifespan and with people mishandling them or dropping them, they can get damaged or stop functioning where they can potentially be salvaged or go to waste. The environmental impact of mobile phones, PCs, TVs, to name a few, have not gone unnoticed as covered by Brett H. Robinson, in his Assessment of Global Production and Environmental Impacts.