Mike Schwartz: The potential of blockchain

Mike Schwartz: The Potential of Blockchain — Review Guide, Everything You Need to Know (with FAQ)

Is blockchain actually useful beyond trading coins and hype threads? If you’ve asked that, you’re in the right place.

I watched Mike Schwartz’s TED talk on blockchain’s real potential and pulled out the good stuff—what matters, what’s noise, and what you can act on without a PhD or a 30-tab research rabbit hole.

Describe problems or pain

Most people hit the same wall with blockchain: it sounds big, but it’s hard to see where it helps today. Here’s what I hear the most:

• Too much jargon, not enough clarity: “consensus,” “private keys,” “L2s”—it’s a maze if you’re not technical.
• Misinformation overload: wild claims on one side, blanket dismissal on the other. Figuring out what’s real is work.
• Energy debates you can’t verify: headlines scream “waste,” while others say “green”—the truth depends on the chain. Check actual data like the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.
• Trust bottlenecks in daily work: reconciling records across teams, chasing approvals, proving who did what and when. That’s time and money.
• Privacy vs. compliance headaches: share too much data and you risk exposure; share too little and audits drag on.
• Cross-border payments still sting: global remittances average about 6% in fees, according to the World Bank.

Meanwhile, you see real projects in the wild—like food traceability programs and stablecoin settlement proofs—and it’s hard to tell what’s production-grade versus a slick demo.

Think of blockchain as a shared, tamper-resistant log for groups that don’t fully trust each other. When many parties can agree on “what happened,” you cut disputes, audits, and reconciliation headaches.

Promise solution

Here’s how I’ll help you get signal, not noise:

• Translate Mike’s key points into plain English—no fluff, no hand-waving.
• Show where blockchain creates real value (and where it doesn’t).
• Call out risks, limits, and common traps so you don’t waste time.
• Share a short watchlist: what to listen for in the talk and why it matters.
• Give you a practical path: how to start, what to test, and what to ignore for now.

Who is Mike Schwartz and why listen?

In this TED talk, Mike Schwartz focuses on trust, verification, and identity—the places where blockchain can actually change outcomes. He doesn’t treat it like a get-rich-quick machine. He frames it as infrastructure for shared truth between organizations that don’t want a single gatekeeper.

If you care about:

• Audit-ready records across companies or departments
• Digital identity and verifiable credentials (think W3C-aligned approaches like Verifiable Credentials)
• Payments and settlement with less friction

…his framing is worth your time because it’s grounded in coordination, not speculation.

What you’ll get from this review

• A clean summary of the talk without the buzzword soup
• Key takeaways that map to real business and public-sector needs
• Use cases that work today vs. what’s still experimental
• Red flags and gotchas (governance, chain choice, UX, and more)
• A tight FAQ answering the questions people actually ask

Quick example of “real, not theoretical” impact: major retailers have used blockchain-backed systems to trace produce in near real time, cutting recall times from days to seconds. And on the payments side, large networks have piloted stablecoin settlement in production workflows—signs that this isn’t just a whitepaper dream.

Where to watch the talk

Watch the talk here: Mike Schwartz: The Potential of Blockchain

While you watch, pay attention to:

• Language about “agreeing on truth” across multiple parties
• Why tamper-resistance matters for audits, identity, and compliance
• Where governance shows up (who can write, who can read, and how disputes are handled)
• What’s implied about incentives (why participants keep the system honest)

Ready to see exactly what Mike argues and why it matters beyond coin prices? Let’s break that down next—starting with the core idea he builds everything on.

What Mike Schwartz actually argues in his TED talk

Mike strips the hype away and treats blockchain as what it really is: a system for building trust when parties don’t fully trust each other. Not a magic wand, not a coin pump—just a new way to keep records that everyone can check and no one can quietly change later. If you’ve ever wasted hours reconciling spreadsheets or arguing over who did what and when, this should prick your ears up.

Core idea: A new way to agree on truth

Here’s the heart of it: blockchain lets multiple organizations write to a shared, tamper-resistant log. Once a record is in, it’s locked in by the network’s rules and economics. That creates a single source of “what happened” without a central gatekeeper.

“Trust, but verify.” Blockchain finally gives you the verify part on a shared network.

Why that matters in plain English: audits get easier, identity checks get cleaner, and compliance stops being a paper chase. You don’t need to love code to appreciate an evidence trail that can’t be quietly rewritten.

Real examples you can touch:

• Food safety at Walmart: Using a permissioned blockchain, Walmart tracked mango origin in 2.2 seconds—a task that previously took days of phone calls and paperwork. Faster traceability means faster recalls and fewer people at risk. Source: IBM Food Trust case study.
• Aid distribution with WFP: The UN World Food Programme’s Building Blocks system uses blockchain to log assistance for refugees. It reduces leakage and creates an auditable trail so funds reach the right people.
• Government credentials in the EU: Projects under the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure are testing verifiable diplomas and credentials that can be checked anywhere without calling the issuer. See EBSI.
• Stablecoin settlement: Companies have started settling some payments in USDC because it clears in minutes, 24/7. Visa even ran pilots to settle with USDC on public chains. Proof: Visa announcement (2021) and expansion (2023).

These aren’t sci‑fi; they’re the early version of what Mike’s talking about: shared, verifiable truth across organizations.

Why this matters beyond crypto prices

When you can agree on the facts without trusting a middleman, friction drops across the board. That shows up where it hurts (or helps) the most: speed, cost, and accountability.

• Supply chains: Verifiable provenance reduces counterfeits and speeds recalls. A World Economic Forum study highlights transparency and traceability as top value drivers for blockchain in logistics.
• Payments and payroll: Cross-border transfers can settle near-instantly with transparent fees, especially with stablecoins. No waiting for banking hours.
• Identity and access: Verifiable credentials let you prove “I’m qualified” or “I’m over 18” without handing over your life story. Singapore’s OpenCerts shows how diplomas can be verified in seconds by anyone.
• Compliance that actually scales: Immutable logs simplify audits. Instead of combing email threads, auditors check the ledger and move on.

If you’re running a business or a public program, the theme is the same: fewer disputes, faster reconciliation, and transparent proof when asked, “How do you know?”

What’s not said loudly enough

Great vision still fails without the boring stuff done right. Mike hints at this, but it’s worth underscoring with real-world scars.

• Governance beats code: Who can update the rules? Who can freeze or reverse entries? Without a clear model, politics will eat your project. Need proof? TradeLens—a big shipping blockchain—shut down not because tech failed, but because the ecosystem incentives didn’t line up.
• Data quality is king: A blockchain can’t fix bad inputs. If a supplier lies or a sensor is faulty, you’re “immutably wrong.” This is the oracle problem. Learn how trusted data gets in before you plan anything. Overview: What is an oracle?
• UX still trips people up: Key management, fees, addresses—still confusing. If regular users hate your workflow, they’ll route around it.
• Pick the right chain and model: Public networks bring openness and broad security; permissioned networks bring speed and control. The wrong choice creates either bottlenecks or compliance nightmares.
• Incentives decide adoption: Every party needs a reason to write honest data and to keep participating. No incentive, no network.

That’s the quiet truth behind the talk: blockchain works when governance, incentives, and data pipelines are as solid as the cryptography.

Want a no-jargon toolkit to tell a good chain from a bad fit—and finally understand smart contracts, consensus, and fees in plain English? I’ll lay that out next, with a checklist you can use in meetings starting tomorrow. Ready to make the buzzwords work for you?

Blockchain basics without the fluff

I want you to be able to watch Mike’s talk and instantly spot what’s real. So here’s the no-buzzword toolkit I use when I evaluate any blockchain pitch, product, or headline.

“Trust is good. Cryptographic proof is better.”

Simple definition you can use

Blockchain is a shared database that multiple computers keep in sync. Everyone sees the same history. Once something’s written, it’s extremely hard to change without everyone noticing. That makes it perfect for records that need to be trusted by more than one party.

Think of it like a shared logbook where each page is chained to the last with a tamper-evident seal. If someone tries to rip out a page, the seals break and the whole room notices.

• Shared state: All participants read/write the same ledger.
• Integrity: Entries are linked by cryptographic hashes; meddling shows up immediately.
• Timestamped: Each block is a time-stamped batch of entries.
• Audit-ready: You can prove “what happened when” without asking a central gatekeeper.

Real-life picture: certifying a document’s existence at a certain time. You anchor its fingerprint (hash) on a chain and later prove, “this hasn’t changed since that date,” without exposing the document itself.

Smart contracts in one minute

Smart contracts are small programs that live on the blockchain and run exactly as written. No “I’ll get to it Monday,” no manual checks—just code enforcing the rules.

• Escrow on autopilot: Release payment when delivery is confirmed, or refund if not delivered by a deadline.
• Parametric insurance: If weather data shows drought, pay the farmer—no adjuster visits needed. See the Etherisc/Chainlink crop insurance payouts for smallholders in Kenya for a real example: link.
• Royalties and revenue splits: Route percentages to multiple wallets the moment a sale happens—no “end of quarter” reconciliation.

Important: smart contracts are public programs. If the rules are wrong, they execute the wrong thing perfectly. Good audits matter.

Public vs. private chains: which fits what

Not every network is built for the same job. Pick the venue that matches your trust and governance needs.

• Public (permissionless): Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, etc. Anyone can join. Security comes from decentralization. Great when you want open access, broad verification, and long-term neutrality.
• Private/permissioned: Hyperledger Fabric, R3 Corda, ConsenSys Quorum. Access is controlled. Faster, easier to comply with internal rules. Ideal for business consortia and sensitive data.

  • Example: trade finance networks like Contour (built on Corda) have shown big cycle-time cuts for letters of credit by moving banks and corporates onto a shared rulebook.

• Hybrid: Keep private data and speed where needed, anchor proofs on a public chain for global verification. Best of both when designed well.

Quick gut-check: if lots of independent entities must verify the same facts over years, public wins. If a defined club needs speed and privacy under known rules, permissioned fits.

Consensus, blocks, and fees: the short version

Consensus is how the network agrees on the next “page” (block) in the logbook:

• Proof of Work (PoW): Miners burn electricity to secure blocks (e.g., Bitcoin). Battle-tested, energy-heavy.
• Proof of Stake (PoS): Validators lock up tokens; bad behavior risks losing them (e.g., Ethereum today). Big energy savings—the Ethereum Foundation reports ~99.95% lower energy use after the Merge.

Blocks are batches of transactions added at intervals (seconds to minutes, depending on the chain). Each block points to the last, forming the chain.

Fees pay the people securing the network and prevent spam. They change with demand and design:

• Mainnets: Can spike during busy periods.
• Layer-2 networks: Roll up many transactions for cheaper, faster confirmations (see real-time averages at l2fees.info).

Rule of thumb: if a use case is fee-sensitive, test it on a chain or layer where fees are predictable and low, and measure during peak traffic—not just on a quiet Sunday.

Wallets and keys: don’t skip this

Your wallet holds the keys to your assets and your on-chain identity. The private key is the crown jewel—anyone with it can act as you. Lose it, and there’s no “forgot password” link.

• Self-custody: You hold keys (e.g., hardware wallets like Ledger or Trezor). Maximum control, maximum responsibility.
• Custodial: An exchange or app holds keys for you. Easier, but you must trust their security and solvency.
• Smart contract wallets: Add features like daily limits, spending keys, social recovery (e.g., guardians) and 2FA-like flows.

Cold truth: studies and reporting have estimated that a meaningful chunk of Bitcoin—often cited around 20%—is likely lost to inaccessible wallets. That’s billions gone due to poor key hygiene. See coverage summarizing Chainalysis’s estimate: Fortune.

• My safety checklist:

  • Write the seed phrase on paper or steel; store in two safe places (not cloud photos).
  • Use a hardware wallet for any serious value.
  • Practice with small amounts first; verify addresses with a test transaction.
  • Beware signing “permissions” in wallets; read what the app is asking to spend.
  • For teams, use multisig or smart wallets with role-based controls.

Now that you’ve got the foundations, want to see where this trust layer actually changes outcomes today—like stopping counterfeits, making payments settle in minutes, or proving credentials without oversharing? Keep reading: the next section breaks down real use cases you can check right now. Which one do you wish worked better in your world?

Real-world use cases that match Mike’s claims

I only trust tech that clears real bottlenecks. With blockchain, the question is simple: does it cut reconciliation time, shrink fraud, and make audits boring? When it does, you feel the difference in your day-to-day.

People don’t need blockchain. They need proof.

Supply chain and provenance

Counterfeits and messy recalls are expensive and embarrassing. A shared, tamper-resistant log turns “we think” into “we can prove it.”

• Food safety at scale: Walmart’s food traceability pilot famously cut the time to trace mangoes from farm to store from about 7 days to 2.2 seconds, using IBM Food Trust. That’s not a marketing line—speed like that can save lives during recalls. Source: IBM/Walmart case study.
• Everyday transparency: Carrefour tracks chicken, eggs, and more so shoppers can scan a QR and see a product’s journey. This isn’t a lab demo—it’s live in stores across Europe. Source: Carrefour press.
• High-value goods: De Beers’ Tracr registers diamonds from mine to retail to help block conflict stones and fakes. Provenance isn’t a nice-to-have when each stone is a small fortune.

Why it matters: the OECD and EUIPO estimate that counterfeits account for around 3.3% of world trade—tens of billions lost and trust eroded. Source: OECD/EUIPO. Traceability tech won’t fix bad data by itself, but it gives auditors, brands, and customers a common truth to check fast.

Digital identity and credentials

Passwords and PDFs aren’t proof. Verifiable credentials turn “trust me” into cryptographic facts you can show anywhere without oversharing.

• Open standards first: The W3C Verifiable Credentials standard lets issuers sign claims (like “this person is over 18” or “graduated from X”) that you hold in your wallet and present selectively.
• Europe’s trust backbone: The EU’s EBSI pilots verifiable diplomas and identity for cross-border services—students can prove degrees across countries without waiting weeks for paper checks.
• Financial inclusion: Kiva tested a blockchain-based identity and credit history layer with governments to help the “thin-file” population access fair lending. Source: Kiva Protocol.

The win: instant verification with minimal data. The catch (which I’ll get into next): governance and user experience make or break adoption.

Payments and remittances

Moving money across borders still feels like fax-era tech: slow, pricey, opaque. Stablecoins and on-chain rails fix the settlement layer.

• Stablecoin cash-in/out: MoneyGram and the Stellar network enabled cash-to-USDC and back in multiple countries. You can hand in cash, receive USDC, and exit to cash again—useful for the unbanked and gig workers. Source: MoneyGram x Stellar.
• B2B payouts that clear fast: Global payroll platforms now offer USDC payouts, letting contractors get paid in minutes, not days, with on-chain proofs of payment. Example: Deel crypto payroll.
• Reality check on costs: The World Bank tracks average remittance fees hovering around 6% globally—well above the UN’s 3% target. Stablecoin transfers on efficient chains routinely cost a fraction of that. Source: World Bank Remittance Prices.

On-chain payments win on speed and transparency. FX and cash-out still matter, but the core settlement is finally modern.

Asset tokenization and finance

This is the quiet revolution: taking real-world assets and putting them on programmable rails.

• On-chain money market funds: BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasuries fund BUIDL launched on Ethereum in 2024; Franklin Templeton’s fund runs on public chains, too. Tokenized Treasuries crossed the $1B mark in 2024 and kept climbing. Sources: rwa.xyz, Franklin OnChain.
• Corporate and sovereign bonds: Siemens issued a €60M bond on a public blockchain, and the European Investment Bank has experimented with digital bonds for faster settlement and transparent cap tables. Sources: Siemens press, EIB.
• Invoices and real economy: Platforms like Centrifuge tokenize invoices so SMEs can access liquidity faster, with investors seeing real-time collateral on-chain.

What changes: fractional access, programmable compliance, T+instant settlement, and auditability. What doesn’t: you still need trusted oracles and strong legal wrappers.

Public sector and compliance

Governments and NGOs want fewer disputes and clearer trails. Immutable logs fit that job—if the data input is clean and oversight is real.

• Humanitarian aid: The UN World Food Programme’s Building Blocks uses a private Ethereum-based system to settle aid transfers for refugees with strong audit trails, cutting fees and leakage.
• Land and property records: Georgia and other registries tested blockchain-backed titles—public anchors with controlled write access—to reduce fraud and backdating. Source: Bitfury/Georgia report.
• Open energy data: Chile’s Energy Commission anchored data on Ethereum to make reporting tamper-evident and publicly verifiable. Source: CNE Chile.

For audits, grants, and benefits, a shared ledger doesn’t replace governance—it makes it visible. That alone nudges better behavior.

I’m excited by what’s already working, but I’m not starry-eyed. Some chains get clogged, fees can spike, privacy is tricky, and “garbage in” still means “garbage out.” Want the straight talk on limits, risks, and how to avoid the classic mistakes? Keep going—next up, I’ll show you where projects stumble and how to choose wisely.

Limits, risks, and mistakes to avoid

“Trust is a process, not a promise.” If you remember one line while building with blockchain, make it this one.

Scalability, fees, and UX gaps

When things get busy, some networks slow down or get pricey—exactly when you need them most. If you tried sending a simple token on Ethereum during a hot NFT mint, you’ve felt it: $20–$80 gas fees aren’t rare at peak hours. On the flip side, fast chains can stumble too—Solana has had several high-profile outages (including February 2024) that left apps waiting in the dark.

• What actually helps right now: modern Layer-2s. Networks like Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism usually keep basic transfers under a few cents and swaps well below a dollar. That’s not theory—you can check live fees.
• What still trips users: onboarding and key management. Seed phrases scare people off, and losing a private key still means game over.
• Pragmatic moves:

  • Use smart contract wallets with social recovery (e.g., Safe, Argent) and ERC‑4337 account abstraction for email-style sign-ins and gas sponsorship.
  • Design for “fee spikes.” Add a toggle for L2 fallback or batch transactions when the network is quiet.
  • Measure time-to-first-successful-transaction, not just TPS. If a newbie can’t complete step one in 2 minutes, you don’t have product–market fit.

Energy and sustainability questions

Headlines still paint every chain with the same brush. Reality is mixed. Proof of Work is energy-heavy (Cambridge’s index puts Bitcoin consumption in the tens of TWh per year—live estimate here), but most new platforms don’t use PoW.

• Big shift: Ethereum’s move to Proof of Stake cut energy use by ~99.95% according to the Ethereum Foundation.
• What to check, not assume:

  • Consensus type (PoW vs PoS vs hybrid) and validator count.
  • Where validators or miners source power (claims vary; third-party audits beat marketing decks).
  • End-to-end footprint (including L2s, data availability layers, and your own infrastructure).

• Practical path: default to PoS or rollups, keep heavy data off-chain, and publish a short sustainability note if you’re selling to enterprises or the public sector.

Security vs. privacy trade-offs

Public blockchains are transparent by design. That’s amazing for audit trails and terrible for sensitive data. Even if you never post names or emails, transaction patterns can reveal a lot. Researchers showed years ago that wallet activity can be linked to real identities with off-chain clues (classic example: the 2013 “Bitcoin deanonymization” work; many follow-ups since).

• Smart ways to limit exposure:

  • Keep personal data off-chain; anchor only hashes or proofs.
  • Use verifiable credentials and selective disclosure (W3C VCs, DIDs) so users prove “over 18” without sharing birthdays.
  • Explore privacy tech where appropriate: zero-knowledge proofs (Polygon ID, zkSync-era proofs), confidential smart contracts (Oasis Sapphire, Secret Network), or permissioned chains for sensitive workflows.

• Know the trade: the more privacy you add, the more you may limit openness, composability, or compliance comfort. Mixers and obfuscation tools can trigger legal reviews—Tornado Cash sanctions are the cautionary tale.

Regulation and compliance reality

Rules aren’t uniform, and they change fast. If you’re building anything with money flows, assume regulators are in the room—even if they aren’t yet.

• What to plan for early:

  • KYC/AML and FATF’s Travel Rule for certain transfers (see FATF guidance).
  • EU MiCA rules rolling out through 2024–2025 for stablecoins and crypto service providers (official page).
  • GDPR/PII handling: the “right to be forgotten” clashes with immutability—solve with off-chain storage + on-chain proofs, revocation registries, and data minimization.
  • Tax reporting and cost-basis tracking for every jurisdiction you touch.

• War stories to learn from:

  • Staking products paused or reworked after enforcement headlines in the U.S.
  • Privacy tooling attracting sanctions risk even without criminal intent.

• Simple rule: if your user has to ask “is this legal here?”, you need clearer in-app guidance and possibly geo-fencing.

Vendor lock-in and chain choice

Picking a chain is easy on day one and expensive on day 365. Migrations are painful: smart contracts, indexers, analytics, wallets, user balances—the whole stack moves or breaks. Bridges help, but they’re a top risk category (Ronin: ~$620M in 2022; Wormhole: ~$325M in 2022; Poly Network: ~$611M in 2021).

• How I future-proof choices:

  • Prefer open standards and portable code: ERC‑20/721/1155, W3C DIDs/VCs, EVM compatibility for the widest tooling and talent pool.
  • Design for interoperability from day one: consider Cosmos IBC for app-chains, Polkadot XCM, or chain-agnostic APIs. Keep your business logic modular.
  • Use upgrade paths with care: proxies and timelocks controlled by well-audited multisigs, not a single admin key.
  • Keep PII and heavy data off-chain behind an abstraction layer so you can swap chains without a data migration nightmare.

• Pre-launch checklist:

  • Security track record (years in production, incident history, audit culture).
  • Real costs at your expected throughput (simulate peak loads).
  • Ecosystem depth (oracles, indexers, wallets, fiat ramps, analytics).
  • Regulatory fit (geo exposure, stablecoin availability, KYC modules).
  • Exit plan (can you bridge, mirror, or migrate if needed?).

I’ve seen teams win big by picking the boring, reliable option—and I’ve seen great ideas stall because they chased a shiny chain, then couldn’t move. Which risk above worries you most right now—the fees, the privacy, or the rulebook? Keep that question in mind, because next I’m answering the exact things people ask me every week, no fluff, just straight answers you can act on.

FAQ — People also ask (straight answers)

Is blockchain only useful for cryptocurrencies?

No. Crypto is just the first wave. The real unlock is shared, tamper-resistant records across organizations that don’t fully trust each other.

• Supply chains: Walmart traced mangoes and leafy greens in seconds using IBM Food Trust, slashing recall time from days to 2.2 seconds (source: Walmart/IBM case study).
• Verifiable credentials: Microsoft Entra Verified ID issues tamper-evident credentials for employees and partners so you can prove claims without oversharing.
• Tickets and access: Ticketmaster tested NFT-based tickets on Polygon for fan experiences and fraud reduction.

What problem does blockchain actually solve?

It lets multiple parties agree on the same data without a central gatekeeper. That kills manual reconciliation, duplicate records, and “who changed what” disputes.

• Auditable history: Every change is timestamped, signed, and linked. Great for compliance and financial ops.
• Provenance: You can prove origin and handling for food, luxury goods, or parts. Counterfeits become easier to spot.
• Cross-company workflows: Logistics, inspections, or payouts can be coordinated automatically with shared truth.

How do smart contracts work in real life?

They’re code that enforces rules automatically—no “please update the spreadsheet” emails.

• On delivery, pay: Funds are locked, an oracle confirms delivery, and the contract releases payment. No back-and-forth.
• Insurance: Etherisc runs parametric crop insurance; if weather data crosses a threshold, payouts trigger—no lengthy claims process.
• Trade docs: CargoX’s blockchain-based bills of lading are used in government-backed trade systems (e.g., Egypt’s NAFEZA) to cut delays and fraud.

Is blockchain secure?

The ledger is hard to rewrite. But most failures come from app bugs, bad key storage, or compromised data feeds.

• Layered reality: Protocol security is one thing; your wallet, the app’s code, and the oracle are different attack surfaces.
• Numbers to know: Chainalysis reported crypto hacking losses dropped from ~$3.7B (2022) to ~$1.7B in 2023, but smart contract exploits remain a major vector.
• Do this: Use hardware wallets, audited contracts, and role-based approvals; never reuse seed phrases; restrict API keys.

What are real-world examples I can check today?

• Supply chain: IBM Food Trust with Walmart and Carrefour for traceability.
• Payments: Visa has settled with USDC on Ethereum and Solana for cross-border treasury moves.
• Identity: Microsoft Entra Verified ID and EU EBSI pilots for education and public services.
• Tickets: Ticketmaster’s NFT/“token-gated” experiments for fan access and anti-fraud.
• Tokenized finance: Real-world assets on-chain (Treasuries, invoices) tracked by dashboards like RWA.xyz have crossed billions in value.

Does blockchain waste energy?

Some do; many don’t. It depends on the consensus design.

• Proof of Work (PoW): Energy-intensive (see the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index for live estimates).
• Proof of Stake (PoS): Orders of magnitude lighter. After Ethereum’s 2022 Merge, its energy use dropped ~99.95% (Ethereum Foundation).
• Tip: If energy is a concern, pick PoS or permissioned networks and verify actual metrics, not headlines.

Public vs. private blockchains: which should I use?

Use public when you need open verification and broad security; use private/permissioned when you need speed, privacy, or strict governance. Most serious deployments are hybrid:

• Public: Transparency, global validators, censorship resistance. Good for verifiable proofs and asset issuance.
• Private: Controlled access, predictable fees, compliance-friendly. Good for internal workflows and consortiums.
• Hybrid: Keep sensitive data private; anchor proofs or final states to a public chain for auditability.

What’s the catch with “trustless” systems?

They replace some middlemen with new trust points:

• Data input: Oracles and scanners can be wrong or manipulated. “Garbage in, garbage forever.”
• Governance: Who upgrades the contract? Who can pause it? Read the docs and check the multisig.
• Code quality: Bugs are costly when code runs money. Favor audited, battle-tested libraries.

How do I start learning or building?

Keep it simple and low-risk.

• Watch the talk: Get the mental model right: trust, verification, identity, coordination.
• Get a wallet: Start with a reputable wallet; learn backups and hardware security first.
• Try a testnet: Use faucets for ETH on Sepolia or USDC on test networks; deploy a simple contract with Remix or Hardhat.
• Prototype one workflow: “If inspection passes, release funds” or “write verifiable proof to chain.” Test with 3–5 users.
• Document: Map stakeholders, permissions, and data sources. You’ll thank yourself later.

What’s Mike Schwartz’s main point?

Use blockchain where shared truth unlocks value. Think identity, verification, and multi-party coordination—places where auditability and automation save real time and money, not where a normal database already does the job.

Want the exact 4–6 week playbook to go from “curious” to “useful pilot” without burning budget? That’s next—stick with me for the action plan.

Watch, apply, and get value fast

Here’s how I use Mike’s talk to cut through noise and get to outcomes: I look for places where we waste hours arguing about “what happened,” then I turn that into a tiny experiment that proves or disproves value fast. When teams do this, results show up quickly—like Walmart’s mango traceability going from almost a week to seconds through on-chain provenance, or the World Food Programme’s cash-aid system improving auditability while serving refugee communities. That’s the energy I want you to bring to this.

How to watch the talk with intent

• Pause anytime you hear “trust” or “verification.” Ask: who needs to agree on what, exactly? And what proof do they need?
• Circle your messiest reconciliation loop. Invoices vs. deliveries, certifications vs. access, grant payouts vs. milestones—where do disputes or rework happen?
• Write down the minimum proof. Timestamp, signer identity, credential status, or a hash of a document. Keep it small. No personal data on-chain.
• Pick a single event to anchor. “Shipment received,” “inspection passed,” or “credential verified.” Your first win is one clean event everyone can see.
• Decide what stays off-chain. Documents, images, PII. Store them off-chain; anchor a hash on a public chain so anyone can verify integrity later.

Need a fast example? Notarize a document you care about (contract, spec, policy): hash it, anchor the hash to a low-fee chain, and hand the verifier a one-click check. If the doc changes, the hash won’t match—no debate needed.

Watch the talk here: Mike Schwartz — The Potential of Blockchain. Keep that checklist nearby.

Fast-track action plans (pick your lane)

Beginners — 60 minutes to get comfortable

• Install a reputable wallet. Back up your seed phrase on paper, stored safely offline.
• Use a testnet (e.g., Ethereum Sepolia). Get testnet tokens from an official faucet and send one transaction.
• Open a block explorer and find your transaction. Learn: hash, block, timestamp, fee.
• Hash a file locally and store the hash somewhere safe. You’ve just created a cheap, future-proof integrity check.

Builders — small smart contract, real event, measurable outcome

• Pick a low-fee testnet. Ship a two-function escrow or proof-of-delivery contract (emit event when a signer confirms receipt).
• Keep data off-chain; store only a hash and event metadata. Expose a simple “verify” page that checks the event on the explorer.
• Add automated tests and a one-page threat model: key compromise, replay risk, bad data inputs. Keep it boring and safe.
• Target a metric: fewer disputes, faster reconciliation, or fewer emails needed to confirm status.

Business leaders — a practical 4–6 week pilot

• Week 0: Pick the pain. One workflow, one event, two to three stakeholders. Define “done” and the decision you’ll make after the pilot.
• Week 1: Map agreements. Who must sign or acknowledge? What proof is acceptable? What can’t live on-chain? Confirm with compliance.
• Week 2: Prototype. Build a no-frills flow: off-chain storage, on-chain hash + event, and a simple verifier page for non-technical users.
• Week 3–4: Run it for real. 20–50 live events. Track time-to-verify, disputes avoided, and manual steps eliminated.
• Week 5–6: Decide. Keep, kill, or scale. If scaling, plan key management, roles, and governance. If killing, write down why and pick the next target.

What not to do:

• Don’t store personal data on a public chain. Use hashes and off-chain storage.
• Don’t choose a chain before requirements. Start on a testnet; select mainnet later based on cost, security, and ecosystem.
• Don’t promise tokens or “web3 everything.” Solve a verification problem first; the rest can wait.

Proof points worth knowing

• Food traceability: Walmart reported that tracing certain produce dropped from days to seconds after moving to blockchain-backed provenance. Source: IBM Food Trust case study.
• Humanitarian aid: The UN World Food Programme’s “Building Blocks” used blockchain to settle assistance securely for refugee communities, improving auditability and reducing reliance on intermediaries. Overview: WFP Building Blocks.
• Payments settlement: Visa has piloted USDC settlement with issuers across public chains, signaling real utility for programmable, transparent settlement. Announcement: Visa newsroom.

Templates you can steal

Minimum Viable Trust (MVT) artifact:

• Event: “Inspection passed for Batch #1234”
• Proof: Timestamp + inspector credential check + document hash
• On-chain: Event with batch ID and hash
• Off-chain: Full report in your storage (cloud or IPFS gateway)
• Verifier: A public link that recomputes the hash and checks the on-chain event

Pilot scorecard:

• Baseline time to verify: X hours → Target: X minutes
• Disputes per month: N → Target: N minus 50%
• Emails/phone calls per event: K → Target: K minus 70%
• Compliance asks: audit trail available in 1 click? Yes/No

Start where truth is expensive. If you’re paying in time, stress, or reputation to prove the obvious, that’s your blockchain pilot.

Final thought: start where shared truth pays you back

Mike’s talk nails it: when multiple parties need to agree on one record of events, a blockchain-backed log can save you time and cut disputes. Don’t overthink it. Pick one verification pain, anchor a simple proof, measure the outcome, and only then consider expanding.

Watch the talk, grab a small workflow, and run a 4–6 week test. If you want a sanity check on chain choice, wallets, or pilot scope, drop your questions in the comments on cryptolinks.com. I’ll point you to what’s worth your time—and call out what isn’t.