If we look at Bitcoin, which is the starting point of blockchain, the most fundamental structure of today’s blockchain industry is Value Transfer.
Bitcoin is essentially a system that records transactions. In the simplest way, its core is to reduce A’s balance and increase B’s balance.
All the technologies that came later expanded functions on top of this foundation.
Bitcoin → Value Transfer
Ethereum → Value Transfer + Smart Contracts
NFT → Value Transfer + Ownership Representation
DAO → Value Transfer + Organization Management
DeFi → Value Transfer + Financial Services
They look like different services on the outside, but technically they all share one thing in common: they are code that changes state.
For example, an NFT is ultimately
NFT #123
Owner A → B
This change of state is the core.
DeFi is also made up of changes of state such as
Registering collateral
Executing a loan
Calculating interest
In other words, the blockchain industry can be understood as three major layers.
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1. Value Transfer - Base Layer
Bitcoin
XRP
UTXO / Account Model
Balance Changes
Consensus Algorithm
At the very bottom of blockchain is a ledger that can reliably record who owns what and how much.
2. State Change Layer
Smart Contracts
NFT
Tokens
DAO
DeFi
This layer builds various rules and functions on top of Value Transfer.
3. Social Function (Application) Layer
Games
SNS
Content
Identity
AI
Various Services
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Users actually use services in this layer.
(I think ZEC’s privacy function does not belong to Layers 2 and 3)
(It is more appropriate to see privacy as an option that works within Layer 1)
However, Layers 2 and 3 also ultimately run on top of Layer 1.
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When an NFT is traded, an asset moves. When a game item is traded, a token moves.
Even when a DAO votes, token ownership is often the basis of authority.
The visible functions are different, but underneath them, Value Transfer and State Changes are taking place.
Looking at this structure, the technical foundation of blockchain is clearly payment and Value Transfer.
However, this is where the growth logic of the industry begins.
Payment alone gives people only a limited reason to keep using blockchain. What keeps people using blockchain is not payment itself, but social functions such as games, SNS, content, and AI.
For example, YouTube is a video platform, not a payment platform. X is a social platform, not a payment platform. Games are also not payment platforms. People do not use these services to make payments. They use them to consume content, communicate with others, and enjoy games.
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If these services run on blockchain, payment becomes an underlying infrastructure that is not easily seen, and users naturally use blockchain for social activities.
Therefore, it is important to have a structure where protocol activity is directly connected to token demand.
The process of users playing games, creating content, using AI services, and taking part in community activities itself becomes protocol activity, and that activity should naturally create token demand.
In the end, the fundamental logical structure of the blockchain industry can be summarized as follows.
The technical foundation of blockchain is Value Transfer and State Changes.
Social functions create the reason why people use blockchain.
When a structure is formed where protocol activity is directly connected to token demand, the technical structure and the market structure become one.
In other words, payment is infrastructure, social functions are the reason for use, and a structure where protocol activity leads to token demand is the key to the growth of the industry.
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In the case of Zcash, value storage, value transfer,
and privacy should become ‘an underlying infrastructure that is not easily seen.’
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And when we reach this reasonable conclusion,
what is left for Zcash?
What is the reason for Zcash to exist?
What should Zcash become?