Unvalidated Ideas #021

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Koinmetrics - Analytics for Blockchain merchants

The ETH2 merge has been finalized. Now called "Ethereum Upgrades", the merge represents the hard work of Ethereum team, and the first step towards sustainable cryptocurrency -- moving from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake.

Ethereum no longer has to rely on an outsized energy footprint to operate. The biggest objection to cryptocurrencies has just disappeared.

With this barrier gone, a lot of new interest is likely going to enter the crypto currency space. While new legitimate consciencious users are coming in, build the next ProfitWell/BareMetrics for blockchain merchants.

The obvious question -- what's stopping ProfitWell/BareMetrics from dominating this space too? Nothing, except for specialization.

Companies that have already built out payment flows on traditional infrastructure can often have their vision clouded by their previous knowledge. With a fresh start and being ruthlessly focused on the crypto experience, it's possible to build a product that is fractionally better than what the bigger players can.

Little things like taking all your payments in crypto currency, supporting as much privacy as possible, and making sure your customers are happy can go a long way to cementing you as the choice over larger players.

If you really want to get fancy, try building your project completely as a DAO or smart contract (that's probably a bit "too" fancy, but I digress).

Read my raw notes >

NOTE There's lots of competition in this space -- the usual financial institutions and services companies are investing in blockchain technology and have been for a while. There's also competition from the crypto side as more and more tinkerers begin to get serious and build commercial products.

That said, the average blockchain enthusiast is still unlikely to build something this targeted. Reliable financial services and analysis for people actually using blockchain to conduct commerce is still sorely needed.

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Victor (vados@vadosware.io)