The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is a vast network of businesses, organizations, and even national governments who all support Ethereum; both as a unit of exchange and as technology. The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, or EEA, currently has over 150 members, which makes it the largest open-source blockchain alliance in the world.
Who are some key members of EEA?
Some of the most well-known and powerful members of the EEA include Microsoft, ING, Intel, Scotiabank and even the federal government of India. The EEA recently added Mastercard and Cisco to its member list as well. The addition of Mastercard may be a surprise to some people due to the fact that many view Ethereum as a direct competitor to credit cards. This is an extremely exciting prospect to everyone who supports cryptocurrencies, and who would like it to be easier to pay merchants with them.
Another surprising member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is JP Morgan Chase & Co. The reason why this is so surprising is because Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co called Bitcoin a fraud and publicly announced his lack of faith in the leading cryptocurrency. He even went as far as to say that he would fire any of JP Morgan’s employees who traded Bitcoin. Ethereum is the top rival to Bitcoin, and is the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, so it may be puzzling to some people that JP Morgan supports Ethereum while Jamie Dimon has so publicly expressed his lack of faith in Bitcoin. Even though Dimon doesn’t support Bitcoin, he has stated that blockchain technology is useful. This could be the reason why JP Morgan is a part of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.
What Exactly Does the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Do?
The purpose of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is essentially to make it easier for academics, Fortune 500 companies, startups, developers, organizations and anyone else who is interested, to collaborate in order to create new software and business applications for the Ethereum blockchain. Essentially, the EEA brings people and companies together to help Ethereum reach its full potential both as a unit of exchange and as a vehicle for technical business functions.
How Can the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Help Ethereum Grow
The EEA can help Ethereum grow by essentially speeding up the collaboration and communication processes required to overcome barriers in the way of expansion for Ethereum and its blockchain. Because there is a network that is comprised of major companies and key groups who are supportive of Ethereum, it is much easier for these entities to work together to solve problems. On the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance website, members have the opportunity to join “working groups.” These working groups are designed specifically to help create Ethereum-based solutions for business challenges in particular industries. There are groups for many different industries offered on the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance website. For example, there is a Communications Protocol working group, a Healthcare working group, an Insurance working group, a Legal Industry working group, and many more.
These working groups are ideal for any person or company who wants to work on making Ethereum and its network more usable for the industry that they or it operates in. Many different companies see the potential of Ethereum and DApps that run on the Ethereum blockchain, so it is in the best interest of many of these companies to devote some energy to these working groups.
Benefits of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
Another key benefit of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is events. The EEA offers several events each year which are can be a great opportunity for networking, sharing research and discussing ideas. Any business that is interested in furthering its Ethereum agenda can benefit from these events. The EEA has held events in London, New York City, Denever, Hangzhou, and many other locations around the world. Because they take place all across the world, they can accommodate businesses from many different areas.
Many of these events center around topics such as how to comply with KYC and AML regulations, creating DApps for the Ethereum blockchain, and understanding the current status of Ethereum developments, such as the Raiden Network, for example. Although these events center around business topics, some are also designed to be more lighthearted and fun. In March, 2017, there was an EEA cocktail reception at the Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach in Cancun Mexico. So, in addition to bringing people together to discuss business, the EEA is also helping people who are interested in Ethereum come together, bond, have fun, and create stronger relationships within the community. These things can be highly beneficial for the future success of Ethereum and its associated projects.
Members of the EEA can also create detailed bios on the EEA website, where they can discuss their company, and how they are planning to use Ethereum. Further, members can view the bios of other members to try to find connections that may be helpful and highly relevant.
How to Become an EEA Member
Anyone can become an EEA member as long as they meet member ship criteria. This includes individuals, groups, and companies. The membership criteria is the following:
- Applicant must be an individual or organization promoting and facilitating Ethereum-based enterprise applications.
- Applicant must agree to the EEA “Rules”, Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Policy, and the Antitrust Policy and Guidelines. Complete the membership inquiry form to receive all EEA policies.
- Applicant must comply with local laws and regulations.
Source: https://entethalliance.org/join/
All people or organizations who are accepted as members also are required to pay annual membership fees in order to remain a part of the EEA. For individual, groups, or companies with less than 50 people, the fee is $3,000 per year. For companies with between 51 to 500 employees, this fee is $10,000 per year. For companies with 501-5,000 employees, the fee is $15,000. Finally, for companies with more than 5,000 employees, the fee is $25,000.
This may seem expensive to some people, however, considering the immense potential that Ethereum-based projects have to rapidly scale and generate profits many people and businesses are more than happy to pay the membership fees for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. It takes approximately two weeks for the EEA to review applications and respond to them.
Why So Many People and Businesses Are Drawn to the EEA
There are several reasons why so many people and businesses are drawn to the EEA. First, Ethereum is one of the top cryptocurrencies and best units of exchange in the crypto ecosystem. It has been reliable ever since its inception and has gained a lot of value over the past few years. At the time of this article, it was worth over $1,000 per ETH token. So, many businesses are looking to start accepting Ethereum payments and trying to conduct more business transactions in Ethereum.
Ethereum also has excellent smart contract technology which has the potential to make digital business dealings between two parties very simple and reliable. Smart contracts eliminate the need for middlemen like banks and lawyers, and can dramatically speed up business activities. Many individuals and businesses want to learn how to better use smart contracts to help their bottom line. This is another key draw to the EEA for lots of people.
Finally, Ethereum-based DApps also have enormous potential. Ethereum is quickly establishing itself as the go-to blockchain when it comes to creating a DApp. Hundres of decentralized apps have already been created, and many of these run on the Ethereum blockchain. This means that many DApp developers and businesses who want to create their own DApps are also drawn to the EEA.
With so many different value points, it is no surprise that the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance continues to attract major companies like Microsoft and Intel as members. Even the cryptocurrency critics like JP Morgan can’t seem to resist. Apparently there is simply too much opportunity in the space so companies, at the very least, have FOMO and do not want to miss out.
Final Thoughts on the EEA
The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is an organization that seems to grow more influential and powerful every single year. This is good news for everyone who has invested in Ethereum, or who plans to use Ethereum for some type of business purpose in the future. The EEA has already recruited many Fortune 500 companies to be members and it seems highly likely that many more will continue to join.
The EEA is one of the primary reasons why Ethereum continues to be one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, and is becoming the gold standard blockchain for smart contracts and DApps. Many businesses have begun to realize that there is immense potential in both smart contracts and DApps, and strong interest in Ethereum. In the next few years, the EEA will probably help Ethereum to remain a top cryptocurrency and digital unit of exchange for payments. It is very likely that many more merchants will begin accepting Ethereum for payments and using it to facilitate smart contracts. Smart contract technology is extremely revolutionary and is the definition of a market disruptor. The economy is really only just beginning to see how Ethereum and smart contracts may be used in the future.
Companies like Microsoft, Intel, and JP Morgan Chase are often on the cutting edge of technological & financial breakthroughs, and that is why they are leaders in their industries. The fact that these companies are willing to shell out $25,000 per year to remain in the EEA should let you know just how important this alliance will likely be in the next few years.
As membership continues to rise and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance continues to generate new solutions to overcome obstacles in the way, it is very likely that the price of Ethereum will continue to rise, as will its technological significance. It is even possible that the price of Ethereum could surpass that of Bitcoin both in terms of overall market cap, and of price per unit. There is a long way to go to get to that point, but the growing strength of the EEA could possibly help it get there.