Many commentators called 2017 the year of cryptocurrency, when it took its first steps to going mainstream. Is 2018 going to be the year of blockchain? Development of crypto\'s underlying technology, the blockchain, is still in its very early stages. In 2017, however, significant steps forward were taken on the road to a mainstream revolution – one that some people are calling the fourth industrial revolution.

Ethereum\'s smart contracts protocols were improved, and suddenly all the world went blockchain. Many publicly traded businesses changed their names, if not their products, to incorporate the magic words \'Cryptocurrency\' or \'Blockchain,\' and saw a significant rise in their stock values as a result.

Further, mainstream financial institutions began to dip a toe into the waters and add Bitcoin to futures markets in Chicago, with the NYSE and bankers to follow suit. The Australian Securities Exchange (their largest domestic stock exchange) also announced in December that it was replacing some of its current processes with a blockchain-based system.

The third industrial revolution, 20 years ago, moved our electronic systems into the world of the internet. As we approach 2020, we are into the IoT, the Internet of Things, which is connecting all sorts of digital technologies, including AI and neural networks. Blockchain is facilitating the move towards a fully decentralised system for computing and communications, and 2018 is going to be a big year.