Our portfolio company Dapper Labs, the creators of CryptoKitties and the Dapper Wallet, today announced Flow, a new blockchain for entertainment applications.
Why do we need another blockchain, you ask? And wasn’t CryptoKitties built on Ethereum? And aren’t there already many other blockchains that are trying to do what Ethereum cannot do (or cannot do well)?
I have very high conviction that different blockchains will power vastly different use cases. “A one blockchain rules the world” scenario is highly unlikely (imo!). To date, Bitcoin is a store of value, and DeFi (decentralized finance) is emerging as Ethereum’s killer app.
Yet while Ethereum has proven to be a great platform for decentralized finance, it isn’t necessarily the best platform for apps with many low-value transactions. The next phase of crypto is going to include fun and gaming in addition to decentralized finance and existing applications. While Ethereum will still power DeFi apps, we need a platform that is economical and scalable for these new entertainment applications.
In comes Flow, a fast and developer-friendly blockchain built to support entire ecosystems of apps, games and the digital assets that power them. Flow is fast and efficient: it’s built to provide a mainstream-ready user experience for millions of people. Flow is developer friendly: by not using sharding, developer friction is reduced while making it easy to compose different applications together and experience the benefits of extensibility. This means that fans and members of digital communities can earn digital assets and use them in different applications, propagating the reach of those communities.
We’re still in the early days of crypto and blockchains, but blockchains that are purpose built for clear use cases might provide the infrastructure needed to create a better end user experience and ultimately unlock more engagement across a mainstream audience. Flow is launching with interesting consumer entertainment experiences, can scale to millions and enable the emerging benefits of decentralized apps. We’re excited about the possibilities – if you want to learn more about Flow, you can read their blog post here.
