Fundamental challenges with public blockchains

Preethi Kasireddy:

There’s no question that blockchain technology has enormous potential.

Decentralized exchanges, prediction markets, and asset management platforms are just a few of the exciting applications being explored by blockchain developers.

Exciting enough, in fact, to raise over billions in ICOs and drive massive price rallies throughout 2017. The hype is real.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the fact that blockchain “hype” is helping popularize it with mainstream users. Finally, I don’t get blank stares from people when I say “Bitcoin” or “Ethereum”.

However, there’s a flipside to this story that isn’t getting enough attention: blockchains have several major technical barriers that make them impractical for mainstream use today.