Traditionally conservative companies have become increasingly open to blockchain technology throughout 2017, a trend that is continuing well into 2018. With the financial markets and blockchain projects alike jumping on the ICO bandwagon, the subsequent emerging popularity of this once backwater market has done a lot to increase the credibility of these token offerings to the public at large.

Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft are among many others that have bravely dived into this world. Even back in 2016, IBM invested over $200 million in a new Munich office dedicated to intersecting blockchain technology as well as artificial intelligence, according to Coindesk. But even major companies such as these are mere drops in a pond in comparison to the growing interest from government bodies and regulators looking to get involved in this industry.

With all this in mind, the world of blockchain development has been changing rapidly and many ambitious crypto-projects have jumped into this world. With it, the demand for blockchain and bitcoin developers has skyrocketed, as well as the need for blockchain payment solutions and project development experts.

Here are a few of the most significant past and coming developments that have or promise to change up the blockchain development market.

Smart Contracts

In a basic sense, a smart contract is a small auto-executing program that is stored and runs on a blockchain. Although they can involve actual contracts, the term “smart contracts” is a little deceptive since they don’t necessarily involve any legal agreements. More often than not smart contracts automatically execute pre-programmed actions once certain requirements are met. When combined with the many benefits blockchain technology brings, including the security from a distributed system, fast execution speeds, etc, smart contracts are a promising application for many ICO’s out there in the market.

Tasks such as releasing a digital asset (such as a certification) once payment has been processed to releasing crowdsourced funding once multiple variables have been met are just some of the practical applications of this technology. The ability to store and execute programs on a blockchain is what makes smart contracts so attractive to developers.

Developers who specialize in programming smart contract code have become increasingly popular, but it’s worth mentioning that projects that seek to code their own contracts need to be careful. Since what goes in the blockchain stays there, it’s almost impossible to alter any errors. Bugs can’t be patched once the code is added to the blockchain, which makes smart contract development highly risky.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Among the various applications and fields that blockchain technology can be applied to, many experts believe that this technology can help solve some of the problems in successfully implementing the IoT.

The idea behind IoT is that it essentially is an extension of the internet communication protocol to include every electronic device on the planet. This extensive hyper-connected network of devices, vehicles, clothing, and other components can interact with each other and exchange data similar to how Bluetooth devices communicate. The idea is that this will facilitate an era of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication without the need for humans to interfere with manual inputting of data.

One area that many stakeholders in the IoT development world are worried about is the potential security issues for the multitude of devices connected to such a network. Current enterprise security systems aren’t able to handle the demands that a hypothetical IoT would place on them, hence the need for alternative solutions.

Blockchain can jump into this area thanks to it’s decentralized, tamper-proof nature. According to the report from the International Data Corporation, by 2019 20% of all IoT deployments will have some basic level of blockchain services enabled. Cryptocurrencies built on the blockchain would be perfect for automating micro-transactions that might occur between machines.

Although it’s a highly futuristic concept, the IoT is coming around sooner then most of us anticipate, and the blockchain development world will need to be ready to adapt to this application.

Artificial Intelligence

The ongoing quest to create artificial intelligence has been going on for a long time, with developments in modern computing propelling this field of study even further. AI is essentially an algorithm that lets machines create functions that they were not originally programmed with. Even the most seemingly complex computers still work within the confines of their programmed algorithms, but a successfully implemented AI would finally allow machines to “learn” for themselves.

Before this can happen, however, there are several problems or conditions that need to be met for AI to safely develop – conditions that blockchain technology can finally help solve. First off which is the need for massive quantities of data. In the field of statistics, the reliability of any study or conclusion increases as the sample population gets larger. In the same way, for AI’s to make sound decision making they need large quantities of data as an input. Unfortunately, it’s economically difficult to acquire this data unless you happen to be a large tech company with sophisticated data mining operations. Blockchain, however, can create a secure environment for big data owners, as well as smaller, independent data providers (even as small as the individuals themselves) to sell this data to AI developers.

The other major concern behind AI algorithms is making sure that their decision-making process is reliable and secure. Blockchains transparency allows for analysts to see every data input that went into the algorithm, allowing us to see exactly how a conclusion was formed – whether correct or incorrect. Blockchain technology can also ensure safeguards are kept on our private information thanks to smart contracts. These contracts can restrict information distribution only once proper securitization procedures have taken place.

Conclusion

In the end, blockchain developers and the various crypto-projects jumping into the marketplace are going to need to recognize that these developments are only going to become more prominent in the months as years to come.