Don't use blockchain for that
Yesterday, I addressed how large companies can use cryptocurrency (and NFTs) for customer loyalty programs. It seems like a pretty natural fit for blockchain, but there are good reasons to reach for other solutions first:
- "cheaper to build than buy" is a fallacy. If there is an off-the-shelf solution for your business problem, that's probably a better choice. If you're going to hire developers or a company to build (and maintain) custom software, you need to have a good justification for not using something that already works. (There's an opportunity here to create a blockchain-powered generic loyalty service and sell it to companies)
- Loyalty to a company is an inherently centralized concept. It doesn't make sense without the company at the center. $SBUX crypto won't buy your morning coffee if Starbucks closes the shop by your office. (However, discounts/membership/credits could be applied to multiple companies--more like credit card points that can be redeemed for various perks)
- Building on blockchain currently requires a rather specific skillset. Your existing software engineering team probably doesn't know how to program in Solidity. (Koinos will support contracts in many languages, so this will be less of a barrier)
- Blockchain (read: Ethereum) fees are expensive. If you want to build a financially sustainable dApp, you need to reach for Layer 2 solutions or alternative Layer 1 blockchains. (Koinos will have zero fees. Your company just needs to hold Koin and then you can offer free-to-use decentralized experiences to your users)
Well, this quickly turned into a Koinos-shilling* post (I try to keep that to a minimum), but for good reason. The point is that the barriers to entry for companies, independent developers, and end users can be solved. When building your dApps, choosing the right platform from the start will allow you to offer highly accessible experiences. That's the key to mass adoption.
I'm biased toward Koinos, so definitely do your own research and let me know if you have any questions about the project. I respond to every email.
More tomorrow,
-Luke
P.S. *sorry not sorry