In the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, innovation is one of the key factors to success. Various companies and teams are using these disruptive technologies to come up with creative business models. Below are a few companies that have caught people’s attention over the past few years. Rest assured more of these projects will come to fruition moving forward.

5. Storj

Decentralizing the concept of cloud storage sounds quite intriguing. Storj aims to achieve this goal and provide cheap bandwidth and storage solutions for everyone in the world. Users can also make money by renting their hard drive space to other Storj users. Everyone in the community becomes part of the cloud, removing the need for centralized servers altogether.

4. Maidsafe

Decentralization is key in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world. The MaidSafe team aims to decentralize the internet as we know it. Users are able to store private data, host websites, and share public data on the SAFE network. Similarly to Storj, MaidSafe relies on unused hard drive space. However, users can also rent out unused processing power and data connections to others. There is no intermediary involved in the process, nor any permissions required.

3. Augur

Prediction markets are gaining momentum as of late. There is a certain appeal to predict the outcome of real-world events, rather than just focus on sports or politics. Through prediction markets such as Augur, it is possible for anyone in the world to create a bet on whatever life situation they choose. It is not a gambling opportunity in the traditional sense, albeit there are financial stakes involved.

What makes prediction markets so appealing is how they harness the “wisdom of the crowd”. Instead of relying on “industry experts”. Everyone’s opinion is collected to provide valuable insights into how specific situations may evolve over time. Considering how this entire approach is decentralized as well, there is no reason not to give prediction markets a try.

2. Ethereum

One of the primary selling points of Ethereum is its smart contract technology. Creating digital agreements between parties that self-execute is a significant development in the world of blockchain technology. Although companies are working to bring smart contract technology to bitcoin, Ethereum is the go-to solution for this concept right now. Smart contracts can change virtually every business model we know today and it’s only a matter of time until this shift happens.

1. Steem

It has to be said, Steem is taking content creation and monetization to a whole new level. The Steemit platform allows anyone to create and share any type of content they like. Users who “upvote” these creations will allow the creator to earn money in the form of cryptocurrency. Quite a few people have made thousands of dollars from the Steemit platform already. Getting paid to create content by the people who like your creations, rather than advertisers, is the way forward, that much is certain.

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