📋 [Analysis] To Blockchain or To Not Blockchain - Mohamed ElSeidy

Just because others have blockchains does not mean you need one, argues Mohamed ElSeidy. ElSeidy lays out three state saving systems, databases, permissionless blockchains, and permissioned blockchains, which can achieve similar goals. Databases are the most efficient and have the lowest latency for querying results. Permissionless blockchains sit at the other extreme, being slow by design but with the perk of not being controlled by a single entity. Permissioned blockchains sit somewhere in the middle depending on their construction. When selecting what state management system to use it's important to keep in mind who needs access to information and how it is stored; efficiency for the sake of efficiency or anonymity for the sake of anonymity is not necessary, particularly in the business world. ElSeidy argues that some poor use cases of blockchain would be supply chain management and the Internet of Things (IoT), which fail to understand how parties in pre-existing systems are already identifiable if they fail, which increases the integrity of the system. On the other hand, e-voting, interbank and international settlement, and trading/exchanging products are good use cases, as each party is risk-averse to a degree, but demands anonymity with public verifiability.