In the days following the recent US election victory of Donald Trump, cryptocurrency (especially Bitcoin) has stepped once again into the spotlight as the financial world prepares for what many are considering the most crypto-positive US administration yet.
With a campaign promise from July of this year, Trump notably said he would make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet,” creating a Bitcoin strategic reserve and making huge strides in regulation of cryptocurrency.
What is a Strategic Reserve?
Assets kept as strategic reserves are exactly what they sound like: Official assets held by the government as reserve stores of value and protection against inflation.
The United States’ Bullion Reserve is massive, containing approximately 8000 metric tons of gold in 2024. Other US strategic reserves include grain, natural gas and petroleum. SOURCE
An official Bitcoin Strategic Reserve would establish Bitcoin as a store of value on an internationally recognized scale, likely leading to some form of BTC accumulation race among the nations of the world.
The United States government already holds approximately 207,000 Bitcoin, SOURCE but as 2025 nears, it is becoming more likely that US BTC holdings will be ramped up to 1 million Bitcoin, which constitutes nearly 95% of its total supply.
With legislation already introduced that could initiate this ongoing BTC purchase, conditions are looking favorable for the US to elevate the status of cryptocurrency by accumulating and holding for years.
Many analysts speculate that US acquisition of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve would lead very quickly to other nation-states following suit. Bitcoin’s max total supply is only 21 million and its deflationary distribution to miners is halved every four years. If the United States adopts this strategic Bitcoin reserve plan, chances are good that the US will indeed be considered the “crypto capital of the planet,” as Donald Trump mentioned during his presidential campaign.
Bitcoin Legislation
Also in the wake of Trump’s victory, US states are now introducing legislation regarding the use of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve form of currency. Pennsylvania is the most notable example, having introduced new legislation last week.
On November 14th, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduced its own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, a plan that would allocate up to 10% of state funds into BTC in order to protect against inflation and diversify its assets.
The Pennsylvania Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act was written with the help of Satoshi Action Fund, a non profit crypto advocacy group that has created a model bill to introduce Bitcoin strategic reserve plans into state legislation, with Pennsylvania at the forefront of the newly unveiled plan.
In October, the Pennsylvania House also passed the Bitcoin Rights Bill, also created with the help of Satoshi Action Fund, with an overwhelming majority (176 to 26) from both sides of the aisle.
BREAKING: Pennsylvania has passed ‘Bitcoin Rights’ Bill in the House. 🇺🇸
This bill: — Protects residents' rights to self-custody — Ensures ability to use #bitcoin as a payment — Provides explicit guidelines around taxing transactions
Satoshi Action Fund is working with policy and lawmakers in multiple states to assist in establishing regulatory frameworks that will advance the adoption of cryptocurrency. Even during a contentious election year, rights and regulations for cryptocurrency owners have emerged as bi-partisan issues that both Democrats and Republicans view as worthy of time and attention.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 35 states have crypto-related legislation either introduced or pending in 2024. SOURCE
The Bitcoin Act
First proposed in late July by Wyoming US Senator Cynthia Loomis, the Boosting Innovation, Technology and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act is currently the clearest path to US adoption of the world’s original cryptocurrency on a massive scale that could be a game-changer for all Bitcoiners.
“Bitcoin is transforming not only our country but the world and becoming the first developed nation to use Bitcoin as a savings technology secures our position as a global leader in financial innovation. This is our Louisiana Purchase moment that will help us reach the next financial frontier.”
– Cynthia Loomis
If passed, the “BITCOIN Bill” would:
Establish a US “decentralized network of secure Bitcoin vaults.”
Implement a 1-million-unit Bitcoin purchase program to acquire 5% of total supply.
Be funded by diversification of existing funds in Federal Reserve and Treasury departments.
Affirm self-custody rights for private Bitcoin holders.
GalaChain is not in the business of predicting the future or speculating on token price action. Still, it’s plain to see that all this crypto news is closely related to the lasting adoption of web3 technology. When a leading economic force like the US government adopts Bitcoin as a strategic reserve currency and implements a state-of-the-art regulatory framework for crypto, a reasonable expectation is for other nations to follow that lead.
Historically, Bitcoin’s successes have usually flowed down into various altcoin projects as early adopters take and diversify projects into more specialized future use-cases.
Gala Loves Bitcoin
Without the pioneering vision of Bitcoin and its leadership on the road to web3’s mass adoption, GalaChain never would have been possible. We are building on the backs of giants, excited to bring the benefits of web3 to wider audiences in multiple industries and with the latest web3 tech advancements.
Whatever the future holds for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, we look forward to new systems that empower users with more freedom and control than ever before.
Bitcoin is the gold standard of blockchain, right? Not exactly. While Bitcoin may be the gold standard of cryptocurrency (Or the block standard of gold? 🤨), its blockchain is actually quite limited in terms of real web3 application.
The BTC blockchain writes data to the ledger. You can reference that immutable data from existing blocks, but it’s just data. Programmable and adaptable code executing from blocks isn’t what it was made for. Though solutions have been created to execute script on BTC’s chain, it’s designed to be a one-way, immutable message.
This is fine for a blockchain like the one used for Bitcoin. After all, its main purpose is to process and verify Bitcoin transactions. If you want to do more with a blockchain, however, you need to create more adaptable infrastructure.
Adaptable Systems
Ethereum solved a lot of the above problem. Using Ethereum, developers can write smart contracts and deploy them to the chain. These are then living pieces of code waiting to serve a function on the chain. Unlike with Bitcoin’s chain, they can be written into the blocks that make up the chain.
The difference between making blocks on the BTC chain and Ethereum is like going from building with a standard jigsaw puzzle to an erector set. The blocks on the chain don’t just come together to build a ledger, they can connect to dApps in all sorts of ways!
This gives blockchain developers a way to build applications and services on the blockchain. Since they are written onto the blocks themselves, it necessarily means that all these smart contracts are open source and readily reviewable by anyone who wants to use them… or even build more functionality on top of them.
Ethereum and other chains like it opened up the floodgates. They create the possibility of a chain that’s not only immutable, but highly interactable. Developers can access a large supply of functionality across chains and use it to build even better tools and resources.
Chains like Ethereum created the possibility of a decentralized internet — a digital system in which functionality is built on immutable and public blocks. Execution of tasks through smart contracts gives the framework to build complex interactions, all through the blockchain.
Privacy and Blockchain
Ethereum has its own limitations, however. On a chain like Ethereum, the ledger is necessarily public. This is amazing for open source development, but what happens when some data needs to stay private? This is a fundamentally limiting factor of chains like Ethereum, as digital activities across our society regularly require the use of privileged data or personal information.
Ethereum development is great for open source software, public tools and independent, collaborative development… but where does a corporation go if they want to build on-chain while protecting user data and proprietary information? There’s nowhere to hide in Ethereum’s blocks.
This is where we come to the idea of a private blockchain. While a blockchain must have a public ledger that can be verified, that ledger doesn’t always need to hold all the information in a transaction. With the basic ideas of encryption, we can create systems where the publicly available information on visible blocks can be easily used to verify history and transactions without the need for sensitive information to broadcast in public.
This all brings us finally to Hyperledger Fabric. Hyperledger Fabric isn’t a blockchain in and of itself, but is rather a framework on which a custom blockchain can be built.
Hyperledger Fabric enables the creation of a type of subnet on the blockchain — channels. Each channel has pluggable consensus and ordering, which means that channel creators can determine many more aspects of their environment than other channels.
If an enterprise wants to create an internal, centralized channel with permissioned access to transactions and private data masked on the ledger, they could do that just as easily as a channel creator could create a fully open source channel with democratic consensus.
Channels are GalaChain, but they’re also separate instances running underneath it.
Think of it like a train running along a track. Each individual car is heading the same direction with the same velocity, but each can serve a totally different purpose. The design of the club car is vastly different from that of a flat car.
When you’re on or in any individual car, you’re definitely still ‘on the train’. The environment around you, however, depends on which car you’re in.
Each channel functions underneath GalaChain, with their own separate ledger. While they are still GalaChain, they can function independently of each other.
Next Generation Blockchain
We didn’t whip GalaChain as a proof of concept. If you remember back to the early days of GalaChain, we were demoing a live game at first preview because we wanted to show how we were building something that could do more. We didn’t make it this way because it was easy, we set out to create a blockchain that could facilitate real-world business, entertainment and, most importantly, adoption.
Web3 has moved beyond thought experiments and idealistic demonstrations with limited utility. GalaChain is customizable and adaptable to everyday applications. It’s easy for developers to use and doesn’t require that they problem solve to account for the rigid rules of the network.
We’re not talking about “the future” anymore. GalaChain is a tool that is useful for projects and organizations of all types now.
In our next edition, we’ll dive into specifics about how GalaChain works in a more technical sense. We’ll look at how permissions and ordering work on GalaChain, specifically in the context of multiple channels.
We know there’s a lot to cover on GalaChain. In this series, we’re trying to walk someone with a basic technical understanding through the fundamentals of GalaChain. If, however, we’ve sufficiently stoked your curiosity and you just need to know more, check out GalaChain’s documentation today!
We’ll see you next time for more Understanding GalaChain!
How many of you have a file cabinet sitting around for records? Do you find it useful… or is keeping all those physical records more of a hindrance than a help?
Blockchain technology has the potential to totally rethink the way we interact with records. Bear with us for a minute here… we’re going to walk you through the riveting history of the file cabinet, and why decentralization is the answer to a problem you didn’t know we had.
From Revolution to Necessity
There was a time when filing cabinets were cutting edge technology. In the late 1890s, the filing cabinet came onto the scene and gained popularity quickly. When you think back to the organizational tools available at the time, it’s not really surprising.
Before the filing cabinet, if you wanted to store and retrieve vital information, you probably kept it in a cellar, safe or ledger. That’s all well and good… but what if you have A LOT of information?
As business and formal, modern economic systems began to gain steam in the world, it was more and more necessary to have easy access to information and records. For businesses, they’d need to keep customer records for growing regulatory forces and to understand a wider business scope than was previously possible. The advent of mail and telegraph communication brought more remote transactions, making complex balance sheets and receipts. As ownership systems became more formalized, you’d need to prove that you owned things more than with a single deed that entitled you to your whole estate!
So… file cabinets changed the world. Think of doctors, clerks, librarians, museum curators, lawyers — these people had tons of records. Their ability to access them quickly was directly related to their ability to accomplish more.
Fast forward 40 or 50 years after the second world war. A middle class is emerging as a majority of most 1st world countries, and they have an increasing amount of paper records. Printing developments made it easier for written documents and records to be provided to them, and they crammed them full of house deeds, wills, bank statements, voided checks, medical records, birthday cards… the list goes on.
See how fun it was to search for records in bound volumes before file cabinets with this list of 1700s birth records digitized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!
That file cabinet that was such a boon to business soon became something that every person who had any sort of financial footprint needed to have in their house. The information in it wasn’t all vital, but there was stuff in there that could mean serious harm if they lost it… so file cabinets stayed important.
Into the Digital Background
File sharing, cloud storage and insanely cheap (relative to yesteryear) external storage abound today. Most people, however, still have that file cabinet in their house. That file cabinet may not be the shining example of technological progress anymore, but it still holds incredibly valuable documents.
Anyone who owns a house knows that there’s that packet you got at closing. We won’t blame you for not knowing what all is in there… but we all know that we need to keep it handy. Same with your car — your title is your certified proof of ownership. If you lose that, you’ll need a new one before you can register or insure your vehicle. Tax records have to be kept for years in case of an audit — business records even longer!
I open this file cabinet exactly 1 time a year. Please, find me a better way.
‘Wait a minute —’ you may be saying, ‘Some of those things aren’t paper anymore where I live!’. You’d be correct. In fact, most of those things will likely be transitioning away from paper records very soon. With it, your file cabinet will likely get a lot more roomy on the inside. This can make you feel like that big ugly piece of furniture is a waste of space, but also that the standardized and safe place that you’ve put your records your whole life is gone. Whatever will you do!?
The Future of Vital Storage
The file cabinet didn’t just give us a way to organize and retrieve information for over 100 years. It also gave us an absolutely essential way to keep records safe. File cabinets were a place to keep our sensitive information, usually behind lock and key in an office or our home. Newer file cabinets are even fire resistant to protect your records in the event of a disaster. So what happens with all our digital records in the event of an equivalent digital disaster?
Traditionally cloud storage just doesn’t cut it for sensitive records. Do you know what this year is? The worst year ever for cybercrime. Do you know what last year was? Also the worst year ever for cybercrime. And it goes on like that, back to when cybercrime became a thing. Do you really want your tax records or financial documents on a cloud service that’s only as secure as its practices?
Now it’s blockchain’s time to shine. Blockchains are essentially decentralized databases. Databases are the digital equivalent of a file cabinet in terms of organization, recall and storage. Like with file cabinets, information on a database can be tagged, grouped and referenced easily. Blockchain, however, brings new advantages that traditional databases do not.
A blockchain is decentralized. On most chains, there’s no central authority that you have to rely on to ensure security or access. The chain can be accessed without a centralized portal and validation occurs by consensus between users, meaning no one has to direct the blockchain per se, it just keeps functioning off of the established logic and the consensus of its users.
Blockchains are also secure, while still having public transparency. You could, for example, use a blockchain file system to prove that you have had a certain document in your possession for a given period of time without having to unmask what the contents of that document are. The blockchain itself can serve as proof of when and how files are changed without actually giving away what those changes entail unless you have the document in hand to reference. In short, a blockchain can provide the same chain of ownership that physically possessing a document provides, while also creating a digital paper trail that proves possession and history as long as the document has been on the blockchain.
Mundane… but Massively Important
This may seem like small potatoes… but technological advancements sometimes feel that way until you think about all of their ramifications. There are hundreds of thousands of hours wasted in courts around the world every year to determine the validity of documents or to verify chain of custody. With a blockchain there wouldn’t be any reason to argue… all the data is there on the chain forever!
Again, it’s hard to say that this is the most glamorous or exciting use of blockchain technology… but it’s pretty dang useful. How we store and maintain necessary documents is ripe for disruption, and we do need a way that’s more suited to our modern situation.
We’ve all had all sorts of ideas for how blockchains could change the world. This one may not make headlines, but it’s important. The biggest changes don’t always seem like big changes until they totally alter the way we do business and approach life.
The future is bright… and maybe it involves getting that ugly file cabinet out of your house and office sooner rather than later.
Have you been hearing a lot about prediction markets recently? You’re not alone.
The concept of a prediction market has entered mainstream public consciousness in a big way lately. The viral success of sites like Polymarket during the recent US Presidential election has shined a spotlight on the concept, but prediction markets aren’t anything new.
While there seems to be a much more widespread awareness of these systems, misunderstandings about them abound. In the article below we’ll take a look at exactly what a prediction market is, what it’s not and exactly how the process works.
What Is a Prediction Market
A prediction market (sometimes referred to as a betting market or idea futures market) is a place where users can make predictions on the likely outcome of an unknown event. A correct prediction is typically incentivized with financial rewards, so that each participant is competing for correct predictions directly.
The structure of predictions are traditionally set to binary options, with each option being valued at its share of the “vote” placed on it. More complex options change the predicted likelihood in the same manner, just spread out across more possible predictions.
How Prediction Markets Work
Prediction markets do not work like traditional betting pools on sports or other gaming. The value of any given prediction is only based on how many users relative to the total have predicted that specific outcome.
For a decentralized prediction market, it often works like this:
You want to predict on a question, so you purchase $10 of “Yes”, which is currently at 25%.
This means that you now have $10 of Yes tokens on that question, but there are 3x as many “No” tokens as there are Yes tokens.
If new developments cause people to buy Yes tokens, No tokens become relatively less valuable and “Yes” tokens become relatively more valuable.
You may sell your “Yes” tokens before the issue is decided. If you bought when Yes was at 25% and sold when it was at 50%, the prediction you placed would double to $20.
Once an issue is decided, that correct prediction has all the value from the question. If you have not sold and the final objective answer turns out to be Yes, your Yes tokens would be valued at $40.
A crucial misunderstanding about these platforms is that percentage chances do not indicate “odds” in a prediction market, as they would in traditional gambling. The likelihood shown instead indicates the number of predictions placed on that option versus other available options. This means that prediction markets aggregate the predictions of the crowd, rather than any odds based on objective facts.
Prediction markets are intended to tap into the “Wisdom of the Crowd Effect”. This phenomenon was first observed by Aristotle in his 350 BCE book, Politics, but statistician Francis Galton is widely credited with bringing it into the modern day. He observed in the early 20th century that often the median prediction of a crowd would be closer to the final result of an event than even qualified opinions.
“It is possible that the many, though not individually good men, yet when they come together may be better, not individually but collectively, than those who are so, just as public dinners to which many contribute are better than those supplied at one man’s cost”
-Aristotle, Politics
This doesn’t mean that prediction markets are always right. When people are betting on roulette, for instance, they can be confident that they have a 2.7% chance to hit any individual number (2.63% with a 00 wheel). This is based on the physics of the wheel and the high level of predictable randomness in roulette.
Prediction markets are only based on what the users of the platform are saying. If a given option is listed as 70% (Yes) and 30% (No), that just means that 70% of the funds used to predict on that question have chosen yes. This isn’t inherently bad, but it is wise to consider that these predictions are often vulnerable to manipulation, misunderstandings or cognitive biases within the users of the market.
Why Prediction Markets?
While it’s easy to dismiss prediction markets as just another type of gambling, they have applications that are far different from traditional gambling. Prediction markets have been used to glean insights for generations — typically in politics, business and investing.
The first widely known modern electronic prediction market was the Iowa Electronic Markets, established by The University of Iowa. This is run as a non-profit, and users can make predictions about elections or key economic indicators. This has been run continuously since the 1988 presidential election for research and education, and at times it has been more indicative of election results than polling.
The 1990s saw several prediction markets rise and fall, speculating on incredibly diverse issues across science, world events and culture. As the age of data began to rise, however, more entities started utilizing the powerful predictions used by aggregating median opinion.
Pharmaceutical companies and investors have noted that they often use internal prediction markets to forecast which new developments are likely to get through clinical trials. Google announced in 2005 that it uses internal predictions to forecast likely launch dates. Even the US Department of Defense had a short-lived project to use prediction markets from the public to indicate likely threat occurrences.
Into the Decentralized World
In the world of web3, prediction markets have understandably risen back to public prominence. Due to the nature of decentralization, these prediction markets can create a very wide benchmark on opinion. The choice/token structure of a prediction market is perfect for a blockchain, and smart contracts ensure a trustless exchange between platforms and users.
The first on-chain prediction market was Augur, created on Ethereum in 2018. While it received some use early in its lifetime, it quickly stagnated due to the lack of community in the web3 world and due to its sidestepping of regulatory agencies. Augur v2 would later release and revamp the concept as a totally decentralized and open source platform, but it has since faded into obscurity due to Ethereum gas prices and developers moving on.
Polymarket’s launch on the Polygon blockchain in 2020 pushed prediction markets into the modern world. While Polymarket had early troubles with the Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC), they were able to resolve the issues and cooperate with commodity exchange regulations. While volume has receded sharply on the platform over the past several weeks, more than $3bn of total predictions have been placed on the site so far in 2024… much of it on questions focusing on the US presidential election.
Crucially, prediction markets have become somewhat self-sustaining in the era of blockchain. Users can propose questions and interact with a wider variety of prediction events than ever before. This is both good and bad. More data can provide us with more insights, but with the question end of the process more highly democratized, it’s far more possible to encounter leading or misleading questions without realizing it. Perception also does not always equal reality. The unavailability of reliable information or predictors failing to inform themselves can easily shift results.
Prediction markets aren’t perfect, but they do show us important things about the opinions of their users.Think of them as a different kind of poll, rather than objective truth or “odds”. While traditional polling on issues has low response rates and low participation, prediction markets incentivize participation. Since they incentivize being correct as well, they accurately show us a picture of what participants think is more likely. That’s not truth, but it’s good data.
Hopefully we’ve given you a little more insight into how prediction markets work and what they’re used for. Decentralization isn’t intuitive for most of us, and it’s almost like prediction markets were just web3 ahead of their time.
Because prediction markets originally were more about data than wagering, it can be incredibly insightful just to browse through predictions on issues even for those who have no plans on actually placing predictions. No one has built a prediction market on GalaChain yet, but if you do choose to engage with these platforms elsewhere, we hope this article has given you some crucial knowledge to help you do so safely and wisely.
Today we’re setting out to explore the possibilities of an industry ripe for revolution with the help of GalaChain. Let’s talk about audiobooks.
As GalaChain marches steadily down the road toward full decentralization, becoming more convenient for builders with every step, we can envision the ways that web3 is prepared to solve some of the most plain-to-see problems in various world industries. It takes a whole community to think outside the box on this level; we hope these concept explorations will inspire you and open your mind to a world of possibilities with GalaChain.
To be completely clear, Gala has no current plans to build an audiobook platform using any of the ideas explored in this blog. They are merely being presented in this way to encourage our community to think outside the box and imagine what GalaChain can do by honing in on a single example use-case. If anyone from the community is inspired to build such a platform, we would be happy to see it and support however we can.
The Digital Ownership Problem Summarized
Going back hundreds of years, our ancestors have always had the ability to purchase and collect books, adding them to a personal library. Owning a book means that you can do with it as you please. You can read it over and over if that’s your thing, or you can loan it to a friend, knowing with near certainty that you’ll never see it again. 😉 You could even hold onto it, taking good care of it and eventually passing it down to your children or great grandchildren in hopes that it will have increased in collectible value. These are some of the basic freedoms that have always come with collectible ownership.
Unfortunately, we’ve been convinced to give up a lot of these freedoms when it comes to digitized representations of the exact same collectibles. Gamers now opt for digital copies of games over physical, even though those games are 100% account locked. Instead of buying CDs or records, many music fans are perfectly willing to simply pay for access to a song they want to hear. California has even recently passed legislation that will require sellers of digital games to include disclaimers stating there is no ownership involved whatsoever.
Many would say that we now live in a rental economy where few things can actually be owned at all. There is a ghost of ownership, but you better believe that if you violate those sacred terms and conditions, your illusory ownership is as good as revoked.
Let’s take a look at one rapidly growing industry where this problem has yet to be solved, proposing an idea of how GalaChain could tackle the issue with the right innovator at the helm.
Why Audiobooks
As a person who spends most of waking hours in front of screens, I love audiobooks. When I was younger, I never thought my eyes would be under such pressure and strain on a daily basis, but I’ve always loved to read. So for the past few years, audiobooks have been my jam. Reading can still be a fun leisure activity that relaxes me when I’m not working, and I can listen to books while getting things done around the house in the early mornings and on the weekends. Basically, being read to is a legit form of entertainment and education – the more I do it, the more I want to do it, and all the while I can rest my eyes.
Some people spend a lot of time commuting or waiting to pick up their kids from school. Whatever the reason, lots of people have gotten accustomed to audiobooks in their busy lives, especially with advances in audio technology, headphone comfort levels and sound quality.
Before you start thinking that I’m here to simply sell you on the idea of audiobooks for your enjoyment, let me shift gears with a simple question…
My Audiobook “Library”
So what happens to the audiobooks in my collection once I’m done with them?
To answer just as simply, nothing. I mark the title “completed” and remove it from my device to make room for the next, and that title is then consigned to the audiobook graveyard known as “my library.”
In my opinion, “library” is a terrible name for this graveyard of used audiobooks. “Bookshelf” might be more fitting. Sure, I can pick up an old book off the shelf and read it again at any time. But what happens when I want to recommend that book to someone else, loan it to a friend, give it away or even sell it? I’m basically out of luck for anything except the read it again option.
Although gen z and gen alpha readers may find this difficult to grasp, libraries were created to store knowledge and allow people to borrow books. By merely presenting my amazing library card, I could actually walk out of the building with books that belonged to the library, free to read and reread them as long as I brought them back before the due date.
When purchasing from a bookstore, I would similarly leave the building with a fresh and new book that actually belonged to me. I could read it greedily, loan it liberally, sell it desperately or toss it onto a coffee table to collect dust and impress my friends. I could even clumsily spill a milkshake on it and completely ruin it for future readers. The point is that it’s my book.
If you’re a listener of audiobooks, you understand this: You have completely given up ownership for convenience. So have I! How did they ever convince us to make that trade? The power and connectivity of the digital world should have added benefits to ownership, not subtracted freedoms.
How Blockchain Could Solve It
Even while the popularity of audiobooks is on the rise, the leading publishers are desperate to keep the average user in the dark when it comes to potential ownership of their items. In the same way that social media companies in the web2 era didn’t want users to understand that their attention had intrinsic value, publishers of digital audiobooks (I’m looking at you, Audible) want to keep you thinking that ownership isn’t really necessary.
Ownership at the Core
Even if you’re brand new to the world of web3 tech, you probably already understand that ownership lives at its core. Thanks to the massive public data ledgers left behind by decentralized networks and the seemingly simple act of tokenization, ownership of digital items can now be represented and attributed to specific users.
Using the same technology that allows you to hold a fungible cryptocurrency like Bitcoin in a wallet, web3 gives you the ability to own tokenized representations of digital goods. The GalacChain ecosystem demonstrates this in many ways, allowing users to own and exchange in-game items, music tracks, or even moments from films as NFTs.
Tokenized Titles
Let’s imagine a more decentralized approach to the publication and distribution of audiobooks. Without sacrificing the convenience of listening on your favorite device, blockchain has the power to truly elevate the audiobook industry, putting control back into the hands of the user.
A tokenized audiobook would mean that you can do what you want with it. So what would most users do differently if their audiobooks were tokenized with real ownership? Here are a few considerations to explore:
Loan it to others once completed
With tokenized titles, you would actually own the books in your library, making it more closely resemble an actual library. But lending your digital books would actually be even safer than lending physical books, which are notoriously kept and forgotten by the borrower and run the risk of quality degradation. When your audiobook is loaned via blockchain smart contract, you can call it back whenever you want with no concern of having it returned with ripped pages or coffee rings.
Plus, consider the possibilities of programs that would allow owners to collect a fee to borrowers of their titles. Such systems are easily manageable by blockchain smart contracts, giving owners a new level of incentive for keeping larger collections and giving non-purchasing users a way to enjoy audiobook content for much lower prices by renting instead of owning.
Sell it back to the dealer
This aspect of ownership should not be overlooked in its potential for the operators of a tokenized audiobook platform. By offering a simple and convenient buyback program, the platform has the potential to sell and resell the same tokenized items for the full retail price again and again as time goes on.
I have often considered that failure to offer a buyback program is one of Audible’s biggest oversights. For example, while I may spend $10-15 per credit to purchase Audible audiobooks, there are many times where I would be happy to sell certain books back to them for a fraction of that price. There are probably at least 20 books in my Audible collection today that if given the opportunity, I would let them buy back for as low as $2 each of non transferable credit.
Presuming that tokenized audiobooks would be limited in supply for each title, the platform can benefit immensely from undercutting the secondary market with a standard buyback rate, knowing that they can simply sell that token to a new user.
Sell it on the secondary market
Secondary markets and the liquidity they provide are key to an effective decentralized platform with tokenized ownership. Creation of a peer-to-peer secondary market would allow users to set the latest pricing in a free market situation. If I’m hoping to score a copy of a massively successful release but none are available in the retail sale, I can always check the secondary market. Additionally, if I’m hoping to pay less for a title still available in its primary sale, the secondary market might have what I’m looking for.
The peer-to-peer market is a powerful tool for any web3 creator, who can take a percentage of every transaction. Plus, the author of the title can receive a portion of this transaction as an additional form of ongoing royalty.
The addition of a secondary market gives collectors a new gamified experience that allows them to scout out and speculate on which titles they think will be successful in the long run. While physical books can take multiple generations and diligent care to grow in collectible resale value, limited supply tokenized audiobooks could grow in secondary market value much more rapidly, especially if there is no other way for users to experience that title. In this gamified and ownership enabled ecosystem of audiobooks, a “best seller” could be a veritable gold mine for not only its author, but the platform operators and early collectors as well.
Buy more freely in the first place
Let’s face it: “Buying” an audiobook that you can’t transfer or get any value from after your purchase is quite a commitment. Tokenization would elegantly solve this problem, inviting users to purchase more freely knowing that their owned items will retain some sort of value in the future.
The difficulty to get users consistently buying new audiobooks is evident in Audible’s subscription-based approach that rewards Credits regularly to subscribers. Having already collected their money, Audible can in this way ensure that their users are consistently buying new books, even while subliminally it seems as though they are merely redeeming their credits.
Because of the limited nature of tokenized titles and the fact that their journey has not ended with their purchase, it will not be necessary to convince users to pre-buy their audiobooks.
With proper implementation of a rental system and a thriving secondary market in place, purchasing audiobooks could become a low-commitment activity. As a reader, I would be encouraged to buy more audiobooks with an experimental mindset, knowing that if I didn’t enjoy the content after the first few minutes I could simply list it for sale or offer to load it out to others who would find it more enjoyable.
Audiobook Nodes
Another specialty of GalaChain is its ability to host independent node networks to power various DApps and platforms built on the chain. For example, Gala’s Founder’s Nodes represent the backbone of the whole decentralized ecosystem, but secondary and more specialized node networks are popping up all over the place.
When you look at the customization potential of these different node networks, it becomes easy to see how such a network could lend itself well to a publication platform for tokenized audiobooks.
Common Ground World Nodes allow players to operate Common Ground World Guilds, powering gameplay for additional rewards and letting them manage a library of in-game items from which Guild members can borrow what they need.
Last Expedition Nodes let owners run their own custom server of the game, tweaking the difficulty as they please and adding OP Mods (creatures, etc.) to make their server more attractive to players.
Gala Music Jukebox Nodes let licensed community members power the decentralized world of music to collect more $MUSIC rewards for hosting NFT tracks.
Gala Film Theater Nodes host and distribute video content via the Gala Film DCDN, accumulating regular $FILM rewards for operators based on the platform’s popularity.
Crowdfunding on Steroids
When nodes sold as licenses are used to elevate the reward experience for operators, they can easily become a powerful source of revenue for a startup when they need it most.
Development of decentralized platforms has often taken the form of some sort of expanded crowdfunding program. By constructing a thorough plan and pre-selling components that will unlock various levels of rewards for owners, the creators of the platform can sometimes acquire the funding needed for operations without resorting to a token sale or investments from a venture capital firm.
Offering limited Node licenses that will power the platform and generate rewards for their operators is an ideal way to generate funding in the early days. With GalaChain, this is especially true now that node licenses can be tokenized on-chain.
Node Possibilities
There are many different ways that a node network could be used to not only power the network for a tokenized audiobook platform but also to unlock enhanced rewards for operators of the nodes. Here are a few examples to get you thinking about the possibilities:
Node ownership is required to run a rental service
The main benefit to owning and operating a node could be the ability to manage your own rental library. While non-operators enjoy the abilities, to transfer or list their tokenized books, no operators will have the exclusive ability to put their items up for rent, setting a daily or weekly fee as they see fit.
Such a feature would most likely be presented as a Library, using a more true expression of the term than a typical web2 audiobook platform. By turning a node operator into a Librarian, we are setting them up to run their own book-loaning business. This also incentivizes the node operators to invite more users to the platform in order to create demand for their rental services as books sell out more quickly and certain titles grow in popularity.
Node owners receive free copies of new titles
Another possible perk that could accompany node ownership is the issuance of free copies of all new audiobooks as they are released. This system would make node operation one of the most effective ways to build an audiobook NFT collection. This benefit would prove especially powerful when new releases begin to sell out quickly and some people who wish to purchase do not make it in time.
As the platform continues to scale and more nodes are needed to power the network, node operators could be required to declare a specialty genre for which they will receive all new releases. With a shift to a system based on genres and interests, node operators could also upgrade their nodes to gain free release access to additional genres.
Node owners receive discounts on all purchases
Another great way to reward node operators for powering a decentralized ecosystem of tokenized audiobooks is to give them a lifetime discount on the platform. The discount could be upgradeable, or adjustable based on the amount of uptime for that user’s node.
Another approach to this same concept would be to offer node operators a regular allowance of credit for use on the platform. This allowance would likely take the form of the platform’s native token, which would be minted on GalaChain and able to be exchanged on GalaSwap.
Audiobook Tokens
Within a decentralized platform for audiobooks, there is a lot of room for fungible tokens within that ecosystem. Of course, transactional activity on GalaChain will always come with use of the chain’s core token, $GALA, but new tokens could easily be created through GalaSwap for other purposes within the developing audiobook ecosystem.
Using GalaSwap’s Project Token Creation interface, creators can easily burn $GALA to create new tokens, reserving the right to issue them as they see fit through their channel. While the audiobooks themselves will comprise the non-fungible tokens on the platform, there is an entire world of possibilities in using various dedicated fungible tokens to support platform operations. For example, a specific token could power the secondary audiobook market, being used as the sole method of payment in peer-to-peer transactions and given to authors as their royalties with each transaction.
Another token could be used to power an achievement system for which users generate rewards daily based on their platform interactions.
A Road to Publication
For new authors, the world of self-publication can be brutal and unforgiving. Mainstream platforms like Amazon are quick to accept your self-published e-book or audiobook because they are the primary beneficiary of having more content available on their platforms. Attracting the readers and reviews that are often necessary to get the attention of potential publishers is a daunting challenge of its own.
Additionally, one of the major challenges facing a web3 creator looking to break into the audiobook industry is in finding quality audiobook content to release on a brand new platform. By targeting new authors who would otherwise be trying their luck with self-publication, this platform could support those authors in a more impactful way.
A new self-published author may have to hand out numerous copies of their book to friends and family so they can begin to gather reviews in hopes that their book will be discovered and eventually paid for. This is an uphill battle, but by featuring their release as a limited–supply and incentive-packed NFT sale, an effective web3 audiobook platform can ensure that the content will make it to readers and it will get its share of attention.
By seeking partnerships with traditional publishers, this platform could potentially present promising content for actual publication based on the proven success of its initial NFT sales. If the platform plays a role in the “discovery” of a new author by traditional publishing houses, the platform could theoretically be entitled to a small share, acting as an agent to the author. Over time, this agent fee could come to represent a large portion of the platform’s revenue.
Restoring Ownership
Even with massive entertainment industries like games, music and film always growing, books still stands as a giant in terms of worldwide interest and revenue.
In 2023 in the US alone, an estimated $31.6 Billion was spent on books, including physical books, ebooks and audiobooks.
Of that massive total, 70% was spent on physical books, with only 15% for audiobooks.
In a digital world, it would seem that ebook and audiobook portions should be higher. The fact that theirs is such a small share relative to physical books is evidence that consumers simply aren’t buying the illusion of ownership presented by companies like Audible.
Perhaps if ownership re-entered the equation, these numbers would shift drastically. Basically, whoever brings the ebook/audiobook industry into alignment with the empowerment of blockchain may be in a position to tap into a Billions-per-year industry.
Ultimately, decentralized publication of exclusive audiobooks lends itself perfectly to blockchain development in a multitude of ways. It could assist with the careers of aspiring independent authors and restore ownership to an industry that became more restrictive in the web2 era.
While the rise of web3 has often been marked by hype and excitement, it’s the mundane use-cases that really move us toward the mass adoption of blockchain tech.
Blockchain – The Next Evolution
As we have often said, the road to mass adoption is a bumpy one. For the past several years, it’s been amazingly easy for many “normies” to write this new technology off as an overhyped trend, or (even worse) as some sort of gimmick. But as any of us who have been pioneering in this space since its earliest days can assure you, it’s anything but a gimmick.
Blockchain represents a fundamental shift in the way information is shared and managed in the digital era. In just a few short decades, computer technology has advanced in ways that previous generations couldn’t have imagined. The widespread adoption of new tools such as home computers and (more recently) smartphones has led to unprecedented levels of connectivity and a world of new possibilities.
Blockchain tech has the power and potential to decentralize numerous world industries, giving users power, freedom and control like they have never known. In the past, all consumers have been required to put their trust in companies whose coffers made it possible for them to take advantage of the latest technology. But as state-of-the-art tech has consistently been shared with consumers faster and faster, it is now possible for decentralized networks to take shape and start running things that were previously managed by centralized corporations.
Even while crypto and blockchain advocates have been talking for years about the seemingly endless quest for “mass adoption,” the growth of blockchain technology has ultimately been running its course like any technology. In reality, mass adoption of blockchain doesn’t rely on hype, trends or the enthusiastic endorsement of multimedia influencers and crypto personalities. In fact, it’s very possible that these evangelisticapproaches have slowed the march toward mass adoption rather than expedited it. When fanatics are shouting loudly with glitz and glamor, it’s easy for more discerning and pragmatic individuals to become skeptical.
Moore’s Law
In 1965, a man named Gordon E. Moore (co-founder of Intel) famously predicted that the number of transistors in computer chips would double approximately every 2 years.
While Moore initially expected this pattern to hold true for at least 10 years, it has consistently proven itself for more than five decades
In 2020, the total amount of data created, captured, copied and consumed globally was 64.2 zettabytes. This amounts to almost exactly 5 doublings, adhering quite precisely to Moore’s Law:
The decentralized power of blockchain systems is not in the identity of blockchain, but the benefits created by them. While in the early days of web3 it was possible to gather a certain degree of attention by labeling a project as “blockchain,” now it’s all about what your project can do, rather than how it was built.
In the same way that we are typically unable to see the internal operations of our computers and phones with our own eyes, there has never been a real need (beyond the trend) to peer under the surface of blockchain technology, at least for 99% of its users.
While the transparent Swatch with inner workings exposed had its glory day in the late eighties, most watch-wearers would prefer today to hide those operations behind a shiny casing. In the web3 world, a user is far more likely to care about the ease with which they can transact on a platform than the smart contracts behind the scenes that make their (often complex) transaction possible.
There are of course many blockchain fanatics today who are absolutely fascinated with the internal details (The GalaChain team is among them). Still, mass adoption for this budding technology means it will be used to improve various industries throughout the world, without always taking a starring role.
For the rest of this blog, let’s explore some of the “mundane milestones” that prove blockchain is just getting started. These are the unsung heroes in the fight for mass adoption against the corporate giants who have run the show for so long in the web2 era.
Mundane Milestones
Supply Chain Transparency in Retail
Transparency in retail supply chains is an unsung hero of the blockchain revolution.
In recent years, several major retailers have already adopted blockchain technology to enhance supply chain transparency, allowing consumers to trace the journey of products from origin to store shelf. For instance, Carrefour has implemented blockchain to provide detailed information about the nature and origin of their products, enabling shoppers to access data such as harvest dates, cultivation locations, and safety certifications by scanning a QR code on the food label or packaging.
After a multitude of supply chain issues following the pandemic of 2020 and 2021, IBM is offering corporate blockchain solutions to enhance transparency and tracking for supply chains, acknowledging that 73% of consumers have reported that traceability of products is important to them.
Similarly, Desigual has deployed blockchain solutions to improve visibility in their supply chain, marking an important step towards greater transparency and accountability in meeting customer needs.
These initiatives reflect a broader trend among retailers to leverage blockchain for building trust and ensuring product authenticity.
Insurance Claims Processing
Insurance claims can be automated on an unprecedented scale thanks to blockchain.
The insurance industry has always relied on reports and records, especially when it comes to things like processing claims and underwriting new policies. Blockchain tech is increasingly being adopted in claims processing to enhance efficiency, transparency and security.
For example, Lemonade, Inc. has implemented blockchain-based parametric insurance for Kenyan farmers, using smart contracts to automatically process claims based on predefined events like droughts with no need for intervention by human agents. This system has already been proven effective in 2023 as ~7000 farmers successfully received payouts due to drought conditions.
Another example of insurance utilizing blockchain is Etherisc, the decentralized insurance platform. By using blockchain and smart contracts to streamline various insurance processes, Etherisc is able to automate many of the processes involved with insurance claims, reducing overhead and minimizing the threat of fraud.
Tokenization brings new possibilities of fractional ownership to real estate markets.
Tokenization of real estate ownership is on the rise, representing one of the simplest ways for blockchain technology to streamline an already thriving industry. Tokenized real estate can make fractional ownership easier than ever, allowing investors to buy portions of property without the need for substantial capital.
In an early example of real estate tokenization from way back in 2018, a Colorado resort called St. Regis Aspen made history with a first-of-its kind REIT (real estate investment trust) IPO, selling $18M worth of shares in its property as blockchain tokens.
This elegant use case for tokenization has led to the creation of several blockchain-based real estate platforms that enable fractional ownership and the benefits of tokenized trading, such as HoneyBricks and Lofty.
Decentralized Identity (DID) is an emerging blockchain-adjacent technology field that allows individuals to manage digital identities without having to rely on centralized authorities. By using blockchain and other decentralized technologies, DID can enhance privacy and security, giving users the ability to control their own personal information and share it selectively with various service providers. Here are some of the ways that DID can transform the efficiency of various public services:
Citizen Services – Governments can use DID to issue decentralized identities to citizens, facilitating easy access to services such as passport renewals, tax filing and voter registration. These uses could drastically reduce bureaucratic hurdles in traditionally inefficient areas.
Enhanced Privacy – DID systems have the potential to greatly reduce threats and breaches of privacy with personal data.
Interoperability – DID frameworks are designed to fit into larger systems, promoting a new standard of interoperability to different kinds of platforms and services.
One major example of DID in action is China RealDID, China’s national decentralized identity system that was launched in late 2023. This program allows Chinese residents to access online services with DID addresses and private keys.
Blockchain tech is also being adopted in the medical field, especially with clinical trials, to enhance the management of health records. There are a few key benefits:
Data integrity – Blockchain can ensure that health records are tamper-proof, maintaining authentic and reliable data through the duration of a clinical trial. This consistency and reliability are crucial for not just the validity of the findings, but for regulatory compliance issues.
Transparency – The transparent nature of blockchain allows researchers, participants and regulators to access and verify data in real-time, helping to foster greater trust and collaboration.
Efficiency in sharing data – Blockchain makes it possible to seamlessly and securely share health records among authorized parties, reducing the delays and administrative burdens that often come with more traditional methods of data exchange.
Huge strides have already been made for blockchain in the field of medical research and record-keeping, especially surrounding clinical trials for new treatments and medicines.
While this issue will be a long-term challenge and a tough nut to crack, blockchain databases stand to solve the multitudinous problems of managing intellectual property in the internet era. Digital piracy has been an ongoing concern in every growth stage of the internet, from pirated music and torrents to stolen art minted as NFTs and sold for huge sums.
Now, with the often chaotic addition of AI generated material in all forms, it is as difficult as ever to attribute proper credit to the owner of any digital asset. Blockchain protocols and projects are already working on solving these problems by addressing the following:
Proof of creation and ownership – Blockchain allows owners to timestamp their work to establish verifiable evidence of its creation and their ownership. Particularly valuable in copyright disputes, this evidence would provide an immutable record of when a work was created. For example, Bernstein.io, SaharaLabs.ai and others are creating a framework to track and protect creative intellectual property using blockchain.
Automated licensing and royalty distribution – One of the biggest challenges of managing IP is ensuring that the creator is paid, a problem that is solvable by blockchain using well-placed smart contracts.
Supply chain transparency and anti-counterfeiting – Blockchain can track the provenance of goods to ensure authenticity. By recording each step of a product’s journey, consumers and companies can verify the legitimacy of their goods. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) founded an Anti-Counterfeiting Forum in an effort to establish blockchain ecosystems to protect trademarks and designs.
In the journey toward mass adoption of web3 technologies, it’s often the understated advancements that drive significant progress.
While high-profile developments, volatile token price swings and NFT rug pulls easily capture headlines, it’s the integration of blockchain into everyday processes (like those described above) that truly propels innovation. These “mundane milestones” may not always garner widespread attention, but they lay the essential groundwork for a more decentralized and efficient future, moving the needle of innovation in meaningful ways.
GalaChain is Ready
Whatever the industry and whatever the problem, there’s a good chance that GalaChain is in a great position to help solve it. This layer-1 blockchain has the speed, scalability and security needed to tackle serious issues in numerous world industries, no matter how insignificant they seem. So here’s the next big innovations in the adoption of blockchain technology for a better future… Here’s to the unsung heroes… Here’s to the Mundane Milestones.
