A day in life of a cryptocurrency user in 2050

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts, or ‘maximalists’ as the internet calls them, envision a world where these assets have a replaced national currencies. It’s the dream. The more confident ones would bet on such a day arriving within the next 5-10 years. But even if we take a more conservative estimate, the world should have migrated to cryptocurrencies by and large by 2050.

A blockchain is a shared and decentralised database that stores information across a network of computers, No central authority controls the database – everyone in the network can use it and run it, but not tamper with the data.

The face of the cryptocurrency (and blockchain industry) is bitcoin. It remains the most popular and most valued cryptocurrency in the world today. But there’s plenty of room for other cryptocurrencies to emerge and serve specific needs. In fact, it’s already happened – with Ethereum and many other ERC20 tokens rapidly rising in value.

In the future, blockchains that manage and verify online data will be running on their own, powering smartwatches, digital identities, self-driving cars and more.

Let’s follow Sahil on a typical day in 2050. While it’ll be hard to predict many new technologies that may have sprung on them, we’ll try to accurately predict all the blockchain innovation we’d have likely seen by this.

A Blockchained Future: 2050

We begin with Sahil wakes up in the morning. Sahil probably wears his health-focused smartwatch like millions of others by now, which uploads his sleep patterns and other data anonymously to the Internet. Machine-learning systems probably use a cryptocurrency (an ERC20 token based on the Ethereum blockchain perhaps) to bid on the time Sahil’s alarm clock should go off, given his physical condition and sleep/wake cycles. The winning bid is the one that lets Sahil sleep the longest.

Sahil hasn’t installed a hot water heater in his home. Instead, his apartment building shares hot water on the blockchain. His neighbour owns a rather large water heater, and allows other tenants access to it via the blockchain. Perhaps they use Power ledger – the token that decentralises energy usage – and Sahil’s water faucet pays his neighbour to receive some hot water every morning. Sahil controls the amount he must pay by choosing how much water he wants.

Self driving cars have taken over the automotive industry. What’s more, they’re all on the blockchain as well. Using a decentralised bidding system, probably on the Ethereum blockchain again, Sahil is able to rent a self driving car to take him to work. Ethereum tokens are deducted from his wallet and placed in a smart contract until he completes his ride.

Real estate is already exhibiting huge potential using blockchain technology here in 2018. By 2050, it’s greatly matured and married blockchain tech in a big way. Home ownership is now tracked entirely on the blockchain globally, having removed the need for unnecessary and complex paperwork that most government entities had to previously deal with. If Sahil wants to sell his home (or look for another one to move to), he just searches the real estate blockchain for ownership details globally.

In the middle of his workday, Sahil decides to sends some money back home, in Venezuela. Venezuela was amongst the first countries to adopt Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) in a big way. With no banks or other transfer services involved, all Sahil has to do is enter his mom’s wallet address and transfer some coins. The transfer is complete instantly, and he’s been charged a tiny fee for this cryptocurrency transfer.

On his way back from work, Sahil decides to drop by his friend Amelie’s place. When Sahil rings Amelie’s NFC enabled doorbell, a chip in the doorbell communicates with Sahil’s wristwatch and verifies his identity using credentials stored on a shared blockchain: It then notifies Amelie that Sahil is home.

Amelie probably has Sahil saved as a ‘trusted person’ in her doorbell system. If it was a stranger ringing her bell though, how would she know she can trust them? The shared blockchain also contains a rating service, which for a small fee (in cryptocurrency) shows a trustworthiness score for anyone ringing her doorbell.

Back at his home, Sahil realises his solar cells haven’t generated a lot of energy today. Perhaps it was a cloudy day. He gets on the Power Ledger blockchain and orders some electrical energy from someone nearby with more efficient solar cells, or a less cloudy day.

Today, many may argue that we’re a long way from a cryptocurrency-powered world unless we solve major issues such as instant transfers, low transaction fees and more. But all these and more are already being worked on. With new updates to protocols and new technologies making progress everyday, 2050 could be a wholly different world.

The Cryptocurrency End Game

The blockchain is a milestone in technological innovation, in the same league as the internet or electricity. Just as electricity became the bedrock of a ton of industries that exist on top of it today, or how the internet was ground zero for everything else that came to rely on it (from maps and navigation to communication), the blockchain too will be host to an entirely new set of industries that’ll become essential parts of our lives. Sure, it is too early to ascertain how long this transition to a blockchain powered world will take (or even if it will – government interference may well slow down or block it). But we’re headed for interesting times.