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Not sure what business to start? Check out Coinbase CEO sharing ten blockchain application trends

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Not sure what business to start? Check out Coinbase CEO sharing ten blockchain application trends

"If you were to start another crypto company today, what would you build?" Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who is often asked this question, shared his answer today, presenting 10 of the most exciting crypto development ideas in his mind.

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Flatcoin

Brian believes that using Bitcoin as a currency is a good concept, but since Bitcoin still has a lot of room for appreciation, many holders are unwilling to use it for payments. On the other hand, stablecoins backed by fiat currencies are also a good option, but they are subject to inflation and seizures, just like fiat currencies.

Therefore, what would a better currency look like if it were to be created, one that is based on cryptographic technology? Brian believes that such a currency may be completely decentralized, censorship-resistant, and track consumer price indices such as the U.S. CPI to maintain purchasing power.

This currency may need to track the CPI with a basket of assets as reserves or use a special algorithmic approach.

Reference examples: Ampleforth/Spot, Nuon, and Truflation

On-chain Reputation

Brian mentions that decentralized identity tools like ENS already exist, but how can one know whom to trust? How can the reputation of a merchant be verified? And how can one ensure that assets are sent to genuine artists?

To address this, Brian suggests establishing a decentralized protocol that assigns a reputation score to each address or ENS domain. This score would be based on on-chain data, similar to how webpage ranking scores are based on incoming links and related metadata.

This can be utilized for lending, merchant ratings, fraud prevention, VIP airdrops, etc. It needs to be a decentralized protocol to prevent manipulation or abuse.

On-chain Advertising

Brian points out that in Web2, the best business model is advertising, and he believes that some form of advertising can also be promising in Web3.

In Web2, the biggest advertising innovation was transitioning from paying for every thousand impressions (CPM) to only paying when someone clicks on the ad (CPC). Brian proposes that in Web3, perhaps a Cost Per Action (CPA) model could be consistently adopted, meaning payment occurs only when a purchase or specific action is taken on-chain.

Brian presents an example where any smart contract can publicly expose specific metadata that indicates the amount to pay for invoking a function call. This function call can include a referrer address and pay a certain reward.

If all smart contracts supporting this advertising standard can be indexed, it would create a catalog of advertising goods, and wallets and apps with a large user base can choose which ads or referral links to route requests to and share revenues when successfully guiding users, while real-time auction mechanisms can help find the best prices.

Reference examples: Spindl, HypeLab

Capital Formation on-chain

Brian believes that if fundraising becomes easier, there will be more startups. If Web3 can combine services like Stripe Atlas and AngelList, it could not only assist in registering companies but also help in raising the necessary funds for ideas.

Each idea could have a proposal, video, discussions and ratings, participant reputations, and transparent flow of blockchain funds.

Cryptocurrency Job and Task Market

Brian suggests that a major barrier to a more global job market is the difficulty of cross-border individual payments. He proposes creating a more global and free labor market in Web3, where work and tasks can be paid in the form of cryptocurrencies, helping people find these jobs.

Reference examples: Braintrust, Earn.com

Layer2 Privacy

Brian mentions that transparency is a feature of blockchain, but individuals may not want their transaction behavior to be public. Therefore, what is the correct way to bring privacy into Layer 2 solutions, and are there businesses that can be built around this idea?

Reference examples: Aztec, Polygon, zkSync

Fully On-chain P2P Exchange

Brian mentions that in emerging and less developed markets, P2P trading is an important channel for deposits and withdrawals.

However, if P2P exchanges operate in a centralized manner, they may face pressure and closure, eroding individual freedom. Is there a way to establish a fully on-chain decentralized P2P exchange with custody, reputation, and mediation functions?

Reference example: Onboard

On-chain Gaming

Although not a gaming expert, Brian believes that blockchain games are still in the early stages of integrating cryptocurrencies with gaming.

Additionally, he thinks games don't have to be massive; even simple games can use NFT technology for in-game items, allowing players to own these items in a persistent virtual world and interact with other players.

Reference examples: Azra Games, Horizon Blockchain Games, Immutable, Plai Labs, Yuga Labs

Tokenizing Real-world Assets

Brian believes that over time, various forms of assets can appear on open, permissionless blockchain networks, creating a new financial infrastructure with programmable, composability, and 24/7 global liquidity.

Many projects are currently working in this field, involving debt instruments, treasury bonds, commodities, accounts receivable, and even high-end luxury goods.

Reference examples: Goldfinch, Centrifuge, MoHash, Naos, Mountain Protocol

Starting and Managing Network States Software

Brian believes that Balaji Srinivasan's work "The Network State" contributes to accelerating the movement towards startup cities and network states. He envisions more network states emerging, which will require tools for managing voting, governance, fundraising, citizen identities, taxation, service provision, etc., and such software could be useful for various types of startup cities and communities.