Report: The Hybrid Approach: How To Gain Wider Adoption Of Blockchain (forbes.com)
As the blockchain economy experiences a massive increase in size and scale, we must confront a looming question: what do we do with this technology? Historically, technology and finance have adopted a centralized structure, but we suddenly have the opportunity to take a step in a new direction.

Blockchain decentralization holds the potential for a trustless economy, one in which monopolies are nonexistent and security is a given. In this world, blockchain has decentralized the use of power and the manipulation of sovereign money supplies will be a thing of the past.

However, this idea is still a distant reality given the current state of the technology.The current state of affairs has pioneers attempting to incorporate decentralizing technology into centralized structures, which raises more questions than it answers.


“Decentralization” is often viewed as blockchain’s entire raison d’être, but blockchain technology in its current state still has many limitations. Centralized structures and services existing today will need time to adopt the best aspects of blockchain technology.

Given that blockchain is still early in its evolution, it would make sense for an established organization to consider a hybrid approach that balances the utility of centralized and decentralized technologies, while gradually progressing towards a more decentralized structure.


Here are just a few of the challenges that must be over before mainstream blockchain adoption becomes a reality, illustrating why a hybrid solution might be an important stepping stone in that process. 

Scalability

One of the major considerations for integrating blockchain technology is its limited scalability. Every fully participating node in the blockchain network must process every transaction. As a result, popular public blockchain networks such as Ethereum and Bitcoin are known for low transaction settlement counts: around 10 to 20 transactions per second.

In comparison to centralized payment systems such as Mastercard or Visa, whose networks can process thousands of 
transactions per second, blockchain hardly seems like a valid alternative.
While blockchains offer decentralization benefits we all care about–censorship resistance, political neutrality, no central point of failure, etc.–it currently fails to scale adequately.

Ideally, what we want with a hybrid model is a structure that has the benefits of decentralization, while being able to function without needing every participating node to validate each transaction in the network, and without losing the network’s trust that each transaction is valid.


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Mining rigs of a super computer are pictured inside the bitcoin factory 'Genesis Farming' near Reykjavik, on March 16, 2018.

(HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)


More on Forbes: Blockchain Adoption: How Close Are We Really?As such, notable projects such as Plasma, developed by OmiseGo, TrueBit and Raiden Network have been created to address this limitation.

These are “Layer 2” approaches, which are designed to scale blockchain throughput, and they typically come in the form of 
off-chain payment/state channelsand sharding that breaks down the entire transactions into smaller groups of transactions to be processed simultaneously.


Also, the concept of 
delegated proof-of-stake (DPOS), which only allows a handful of selected nodes instead of the entire network to be "validators," has also been introduced to allow for greater throughput. These “validators” function like elected officials, which represent other people and have the power to determine the outcome of a transaction request.

This hybrid approach, in tandem with the main network, still creates a strong model that has both the benefits of decentralization and scalability of high throughput blockchain networks.

Ease of use

Another barrier preventing mainstream adoption is usability. Using blockchain technology in its current form is not user-friendly because the idea of blockchain is still foreign and intimidating to many. Decentralized applications will need to improve on the user experience.

Plenty of research has already been conducted by centralized apps surrounding the design of user-friendly interfaces.

Decentralized applications must take advantage of this wisdom from traditional centralized applications and incorporate it. To the mainstream users, a good technology is a technology that they can easily use every day.

Reputation of blockchains

Putting trust into an invisible system instead of people seems unreal to the layman, especially when they don’t understand the technology. The bad press that blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum occasionally attract also adds to delaying adoption.However, things are changing. Kakao, the communication giant of South Korea, has just announced that it will launch its own virtual currency to raise money for new blockchain projects.

The organization carries with it a reputation that people trust. As more reputable companies adopt blockchain technology, we will see greater acceptance of the technology. Centralised organizations will be key in promoting the concept of decentralization.

These are just a few reasons why a hybrid approach will likely be the main driver to blockchain adoption. It preserves the founding principles, while simultaneously accepting, and engaging with, the centralized economy.It is this hybrid approach that acknowledges the limitations of current technology, but keeps us on the path towards a better future.

Through this approach, we can ensure that as we work towards a decentralized future, one where trustlessness and absolute security are the norm, while evolving the centralized industry along with us.

If you have enjoyed reading this article, discover even more on Forbes here: 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/luuloi/2018/03/26/the-hybrid-approach-a-step-towards-wider-adoption-for...
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    Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst Good report on how #Blockchain as a technology widely used is yet at its early stages, and the problematic of incorporating this technology based on decentralisation in a centralised economy and society. It advocates the hybrid system in which Blockchain preserves decentralisation while engaging with centralised economy and changing it towards a decentralised one. 2018 onwards will be the fundamental years which will make this possible, acknowledging that both concepts have to live along for their own benefit. I believe this will be done easily in some sectors and harder in others, but the "signs of the times" all point towards the new decentralised #paradigm.