Blockchain in 2020: Gains May Be Afoot for Mobile Payments

Developments in blockchain have represented something of a mixed bag in the past for mobile payments. While it’s generated a lot of potential possibilities, many of these possibilities haven’t actually manifested as things people can actually use. So it’s a field worth keeping half an eye on, if for no other reason than to see what emerges. Our friends out at Cudo Ventures recently dropped word our way offering up a look at the field to come in 2020 blockchain.

Cudo Ventures’ head of product, Luke Gniwecki, offered up his commentary on blockchain possibilities going forward, and while there’s no guarantee any of this will come to pass, if even some of it does, it will be a big year ahead for blockchain.

First, Gniwecki looks forward to Ethereum 2.0, which will change the cryptocurrency from a proof-of-work concept to a proof-of-stake concept. That’s set to make Ethereum generation more cost effective and energy-efficient, which will make it more scalable in the long term. That’s going to be the kind of thing it will need to more effectively take on bitcoin going forward.

Gniwicki also looks for the expanded operations of DeFi—decentralized finance—products like mobile payments systems, credit and lending applications, and even some advanced trading functions like short selling, derivatives trading and more. Gniwicki even projects tokens used in infrastructure operations; instead of paying Amazon Web Services (AWS) for access, it may be possible to trade tokens for access to others’ infrastructure.

Finally, the piece de resistance: blockchain used in gaming and for digital collectibles. We haven’t actually seen a successful such application yet, but after a round of investment in 2019, we may well see this come to fruition in 2020.

There’s a lot of room for possibility in this field, and indeed, some of the investment that’s already taken place should start panning out at some point. The farther along we get from the investment point the more likely we are to see returns. Sure, some of this investment is likely to go to waste—a certain amount always does—but the idea that every blockchain development is doomed to fail is unlikely at best.

2020 could be a very big year for blockchain, thanks to the sheer amount of movement we’ve already seen that can be capitalized upon. Only time will tell what we ultimately see, but it should be exciting nonetheless.