Couldn't you simplify that by asking what a blockchain can do that a traditional database solution can't? From what I understand, the one property a blockchain

Couldn't you simplify that by asking what a blockchain can do that a traditional database solution can't? From what I understand, the one property a blockchain has that a centralized database hasn't is that it is effectively append-only for most of humanity: On a low level, a blockchain is a p2p network, so it can't easily be taken down as a whole, and on a higher level, the mining process ensures that data that is once added to a chain cannot erased by anyone - including companies, states or the developers themselves. The problem is that this property sort of competes with the monopoly of force of the state: Traditionally, the problem of immutable, globally visible records is solved through the state and the court system: You make a traditional contract and have the courts enforce it. The one difference between the traditional way and using a a blockchain is, that with traditional contracts, one party can modify records, which is the state: Contracts can be nullified, bank assets can be frozen or seized, etc. Which leaves the only set of usecases that exclusively a blockchain can satisfy in the realm where you want to work against the state itself: Create an untraceable, unseizable currency; create a trading exchange not constrained by protection laws, etc. - in short, do illegal stuff. This seems to me the core reason why the search for legitimate web3 usecases is so awkward: Web3 wants to build a legitimate, law-abiding business ecosystem all based on a technology which is fundamentally about disempowering the law. I don't want to imply laws are always without failure and should never be challanged, but the business proposition is paradoxical. It's like trying to advertise the non-combat uses of a tank. Sometimes, there may be legitimate defense reasons why you'd want to use tanks - but if you use tanks for anything other than destroying things that don't want to be destroyed, you are likely using the wrong tool.