You must have heard about Blockchain technology by now, and how it is often put into practice with the use of a crypto currency. One notable example is the Australian-based Power Ledger. As of today, with its $63 million market capitalization, it is ranked #90 worldwide in crypto currencies ¹. Power Ledger is revolutionizing the energy industry, by means of decentralized energy-sharing. It believes that “empowering individuals and communities to co-create their energy future will underpin the development of a power system that is resilient, low-cost, zero-carbon and owned by the people of the world” ².

Power Ledger enables energy producers – as small as local households with solar panels installed – to sell excess electricity to others in their region in cooperation with the power grid. It has implemented a peer-to-peer electricity marketplace, in which consumers are empowered to trade electricity with one another, hereby lowering the overall prices of energy, and facilitating transparent access to green energy.

The Power Ledger platform ²

If you are interested in how they leverage Blockchain technology, do read on:

The Power Ledger platform is designed to interface with any type of energy market, making it adaptable and scalable within any existing or future regulatory environment. As represented in the first depiction, the platform is facilitated by two different tokens, POWR and Sparkz, the latter being a fiat currency (having no intrinsic value), and runs on the Ethereum network (the second biggest crypto currency, after Bitcoin). POWR provide application hosts and customers access to and use of the platform, whereas Sparkz is issued against POWR tokens, via a Smart Bond, and used by the hosts to involve its customers. Consumers and prosumers (consumers producing electricity for their own needs) trade energy on the platform using the different currencies, which can in turn be redeemed for cash. The second depiction is an advancement of the concept, and represents the ultimate goal of Power Ledger: A direct peer-to-peer deregulated energy market, with near-zero intermediation. ²

The implications of Power Ledger are huge. More consumers are able to afford energy, and they can finally trust that it is from a green source (traceable in the Blockchain).

It is companies like these that are determining the future of the energy industry, and for me that means hope in a green, affordable future.

Sources:

(1) https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/power-ledger/ (accessed 1-10-2018).

(2) Power Ledger white paper (accessed 1-10-2018 from https://www.powerledger.io/).

(3) Power Ledger official website (https://www.powerledger.io/, accessed 1-10-2018).

You’ve probably seen or heard about this game somewhere before. Fortnite is one of the most popular games worldwide, with more than 40 million players in 2018. In March 2018, Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, announced a revenue of $223 million across all platforms.¹ Fortnite owes its incredible popularity to Epic Games’ decision to launch it as a free-to-play game, which is no new concept in the videogame industry. Developers hope to achieve a great number of players by launching their games for free, and subsequently provide its players with the possibility to make in-game purchases. Even though one might think this model is foolish, it has proven to be successful numerous times (e.g. League of Legends, Clash of Clans). These games rely on a vast amount of players to make the game enjoyable, and to limit waiting times. The ‘freemium’ model is also commonly used outside of the gaming industry, as for example by Spotify and MailChimp.

Needless to say, Epic Games has optimized its digital business model by providing great content and customer experiences through an outstanding platform.² Now, after conquering the videogame industry, Epic Games added a new feature to its business model, and has taken on a new challenge. It is waging a war against Google’s Android empire. It is doing so by not making Fortnite’s mobile version available for download on Google Play Store, but only on Epic’s own website. A blog by Epic Games states that 23 million people had registered on an Android phone only three weeks after the launch of Fortnite’s mobile version. According to Sensor Tower, a marketing intelligence company, this has caused Google to miss out on at least $50 million this year!³

The success of this move has paved the way for other app developers to sell their apps to the customer directly, not having to relinquish revenue to Google. Digital business models are being altered as we speak. Epic’s attack shouldn’t be taken lightly, as it may completely change the contemporary app industry, which is controlled by giants.

One could say this move is similar to the Barbarian invasion of the Roman empire, and we might be witnessing the fall of another empire.

Do you think Google can fight back?

Sources:

1) https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite

2) Weill, P., & Woerner, S. L. (2013). Optimizing your digital business model. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54(3), 71.

3) https://www.nu.nl/apps/5453078/fortnite-vijftien-miljoen-keer-geinstalleerd-android-toestellen.html