Company: GridPlus
What it's building: Lead Architect Matt Walters and his team are developing a virtual energy grid that will sit on top of the national energy system. Once deployed, GridPlus will sell energy to consumers at a small premium to wholesale prices.
The energy will be distributed using tokens — essentially, digital coins — which can be saved or passed to other people if they're not used. Since tokens are easily divisible, Walters said users will be able to pay in smaller fractions than they can with dollars. For example, a consumer could use her tokens to just pay what it costs to illuminate a single lightbulb for 15 minutes, something that would amount to a small fraction of a cent.
How its system will be used: GridPlus will start off as a retail energy provider in Texas, whose deregulated energy market is easy for companies to enter. The company's goal is to eventually cover the entire country. It's also working with Tokyo on a similar project.
The outlook on blockchain technology: "I think all of this will happen in the next two years. It's not even far out," Walters said.
"Already we're seeing that blockchains, especially Ethereum, because of its ability to facilitate these token launches, is providing access to liquid capital for the purpose of building new businesses that far exceeded what existed before, be it in investment banking, venture capital or private equity," he said.