Gear is a self contained blockchain network and the most advanced smart contract platform on the Polkadot and Kusama network. It enables developers to deploy decentralized applications in the easiest and most efficient ways possible. On Gear, all smart contracts are WebAssembly programs that are compiled in different programming languages. Because of this, the barrier to entry for dApp developers is lowered as developers that’re not so familiar with typical blockchain-based programming languages can build decentralized applications in environments with familiar programming languages.
Gear enables dApps to enter the promising Polkadot ecosystem without having to win an auction or become a parachian. This means that developers can negate the extremely high entry costs of entering the Polkadot ecosystem and deploy much, much quicker.
Essentially, Gear makes deploying your dApps on the Polkadot network cheap, fast and efficient.
There are many use cases for developing dApps on Gear. In this article, we’ll briefly detail some of the most popular and explain why each one has the potential to cause significant global disruption.
Decentralized Finance
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a blockchain-based alternative to the current financial system. DeFi applications let you borrow, save, invest, trade and do much more with your money than traditional financial systems allow. DeFi is based on open-source technology that anyone can program, making it more secure, transparent and fair for the users.
Whereas the current financial system is opaque, tightly controlled and outdated, DeFi empowers individuals by giving them personal control and visibility over their finances. For individuals who are victims of poor governmental economic activity, DeFi gives exposure to global markets and alternatives to local currencies & banking options. DeFi opens up doors to new, innovative financial services that are largely controlled by the users of the services themselves. This new financial market, which has fewer intermediaries, can potentially be very beneficial for its users.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are organizations that operate without central authority or control and they are an effective and safe way to work with like-minded people around the globe. You can think of them like “magic internet organizations” that are collectively owned and managed by its members. DAOs differ from traditional organisations in many ways.
For a start, DAOs are usually flat and fully democratised instead of hierarchical. They also require members to vote on proposals or for any changes to be made. This is different from traditional organisations because they usually have a sole decision maker. The outcome of a DAO vote will also be initiated automatically without the need of an intermediary. This means that there is no need for human intervention and that errors and fraudulent or malicious manipulation is not possible. Finally, a DAOs activity is fully transparent and public instead of private and limited to executives and managers.
The concept of DAOs are extremely exciting for those involved in blockchain technology. It solves almost everything that’s wrong with how modern day organisations are run. A perfectly structured DAO gives every member the opportunity to shape an organisation, which can in turn shape an entire industry.
Non Fungible Tokens & Tokenizing Real World Assets
NFTs are ways in which we can represent anything as a unique digital asset. They’re powered by smart contracts and they’re enabling creators to have more power and control over their work than ever before. Although it’s so far been the most widely used application of NFTs, digital art is only one use case. NFTs can be used to represent ownership for any unique asset. NFTs let us tokenize assets like art, collectibles and even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time and they’re secured by blockchain technology, which means that no one can modify the record of ownership or bring new ‘original’ NFTs into existence.
Tokenization has a great potential to transform the landscape of traditional assets and financial markets. It will help create a global asset ecosystem where everything can be traded as easily as cryptocurrencies can. Traditionally illiquid assets can now be traded anytime, anywhere, which will make global trade, across all asset classes, more efficient, transparent and secure. It will also help disintermediate entire industries and reduce costs and settlement times in typical financial markets.
Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management traditionally suffered due to inefficient systems where documents would pass through multiple parties, increasing the risk of fraud and loss of data. However, smart contracts can nullify such risk by automating most supply chain processes. They reduce complexity by processing transactions automatically and verifiably in real time, which improves the efficiency and allows supply chains to become more agile. And they also provide a traceable history of transactions, which improves transparency and strengthens trust between all parties involved in a supply chain.
Final Thoughts
There are many use cases for developing on Gear. This article only included some of the most popular. In truth, platforms like Gear are what will enable the future of Web3 technologies to be created. Gear provides a foundational structure for building new types of applications and services that can help disintermediate and improve a wide range of industries tremendously. Gear is a catalyst for global innovation.
You can find out more about Gear and our technologies on our website.
