Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and many tech innovations can oftentimes feel like they're in a vacuum. Sure, the digital world loves these digital money varieties but what value do they bring the average person in the world? 

This topic has been covered before but today I want to dive into some of the more practical and unique applications cryptocurrency can solve beyond being internet money or internet oil. 

1. Consensus Protocol

A consensus protocol comes within the core of any cryptocurrency, essentially setting the playing field up for how decisions will be made within the decentralized network. This type of technology becomes useful when making a decision about a decentralized network but also has other applications such as empowering the democracies around the world to have decentralized and secure voting. While this real-world application would require more scalability from consense protocols (and arguably more security but I'm not a security expert so I don't want to say these methods provide more or less security than the centralized voting system in place across many countries currently). 

2. Collectibles

A new trend in recent years from the cryptocurrency sector has been unique NFT (Non-fungible token). These can be thought of as digital trading cards where only one exists or ever will exist. This type of technology creates digital scarcity which for those interested, Nick Szabo talks about this on the Tim Ferris Podcast, which is also a fantastic podcast to listen to in and of itself. 

The interesting aspect of digital collectibles comes from their ability to be scarce. How can we take something that lives in an environment where copy/pasting, sharing, or creating a peer to peer networks of collaborations have been the norm and inject something into this native environment which has a finite amount of availability. We are in the early days of NFT assets and I personally believe we will see some interesting innovation and creations in this category beyond just Crypto Kitties. 

3. Tokenization of Real-World Assets & DeFi

With so much of the finance world controlled by centralized actors, another exciting application of cryptocurrency comes from DeFi and the digitalization of financial services and assets. Consider for a moment how difficult it can be to transfer ownership of a house or car. You have to get it properly registered with the government, have an army of individuals sign off on it (especially for a home sale), and then after the mounds of paperwork is complete, you official can transfer ownership. A complex process can be identified in nearly all financial service providers which are easily justified as a means of security for these highly valuable assets. 

Nonetheless, offering the same level of security, while also providing the underlining service is the value proposition of DeFi as a whole. With this new technology, I tend to think of the tokenization of assets as a component of DeFi since it's so similar to a stock market or other trading markets. All and all, as we have seen in 2020, the DeFi space has brought with it a ton of exciting opportunities for real-world applications for blockchain tech. I suspect htis trend will continue to fuel cryptocurrency to new heights as it challenges the 22,000 Bn dollar industry that is global finance. 

While there are many other exciting applications of blockchain technology and Ethereum in particular, I find these three to be the cream of the crop. Other applications such as security, digital identities, health applications, and the many more practical applications offered by the robust security network, all will play their part to help cryptocurrency and blockchain tech go mainstream. 

I'd love to hear your top application of Ethereum in the comments below :) What application of Ethereum do you think is most important to the network's growth?