P2P Economy

• A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

As we all know, Bitcoin, the origin of blockchain, is widely recognized as the most decentralized blockchain and the most valuable cryptocurrency. However, few people realize that in the Bitcoin whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto never mentioned “blockchain” nor “decentralization.” Instead, he used the term “peer-to-peer” (P2P), even placing it directly in the title — “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.”

A P2P service is a decentralized platform whereby two individuals interact directly with each other without a third-party intermediary. When we return to first principles and rethink what blockchain truly is, one straightforward explanation comes to mind — blockchain is essentially a P2P network.

The truth is, what we refer to as “on-chain” is actually the consensus layer built on top of the P2P network. However, many business processes don’t need to be on-chain and rely on the consensus layer; they can be handled directly at the P2P network layer. For example, if Alice wants to pay Bob, the ideal way would be for Alice to send the money directly to Bob in a peer-to-peer manner rather than through unnecessary intermediaries (e.g., consensus validators or block producers). This approach is not only faster but also naturally provides privacy protection.

Moreover, building applications at the P2P network layer avoids performance bottlenecks and high transaction fees, enabling the creation of truly useful applications that can achieve mass adoption.

1. The P2P Economy addresses real-world problems with genuine user demand and practical application scenarios (e.g., P2P payment, decentralized storage). This has been thoroughly proven for years rather than being an imaginary need. It can truly create value rather than merely providing tools for speculation.

2. In the P2P Economy, most business logic does not need to be on-chain, eliminating performance bottlenecks and transaction fee issues. As a result, the user experience is greatly improved, making mass adoption more likely.

3. The P2P Economy uses stablecoin payments, making it easy for users to understand and convenient for participants to evaluate service costs and revenue. The use of stablecoins also weakens the speculative narrative of token issuance.

👍 Read the entire article: hackernoon.com - p2p economy blockchain renaissance