The Capital CoinMarketCap”, Singapore 2019
For me there are two types of conferences: there are the conferences that dictate the market development trends. And there are the other conferences. The Capital CoinMarketCap conference in Singapore definitely belongs to the first type.
My impressions from the conference: The main trends of the next year are
- STO
- Formation of ecosystems around the large cryptocurrency exchanges.
Concerning the STO — everything is clear and straightforward. Indeed, this is a very convenient tool for raising capital, and its use will grow exponentially in the coming years.
Let’s talk about the second clear trend. Here, everything is much more interesting.
I am certain that there will be at least 5 major market segments using cryptocurrencies once everything is settled:
1. Long-term savings (digital gold)
I consider Bitcoin to be the most suitable currency for long term savings. It is especially true for the developing countries inhabited by at least 80% of the total population of the planet.
2. Cross-border payments
Large cross-border payments can be conducted in any cryptocurrency a person puts his or her trust in.
3. Micropayments
Micropayments are yet another promising field where the usage of cryptocurrencies is highly convenient.
4. Asset tokenization
Transferring a share of the fund market to the blockchain will make it truly global and available to both companies and private individuals.
5. Large ecosystem cryptocurrencies
This is something we are very likely to see in the future. Large ecosystems where hundreds of millions, billions of people live and communicate will end up issuing their own cryptocurrencies as an additional source of income and a means of differentiation at a competitive market. Companies like Facebook, Telegram, WeChat, and Viber most certainly will start issuing their own cryptocurrencies. Seemingly, Telegram and Facebook are going to be the pioneers, issuing Gram and Stable Libra, respectively.
I always thought that it was Facebook and Telegram that would issue their tokens. Maybe I was wrong? Perhaps they simply will not be allowed to run their private money in their ecosystems? In this case, nothing will change, private money will still appear.
Indeed, if a large ecosystem cannot issue its tokens, then nothing prevents a successful token issuer from becoming a large ecosystem. There are already candidates, for example, Binance Coin and Houby Token.
Pretty soon, Binance or Huobi will become large ecosystems with their own social networks, messengers and hundreds of millions of users.
So the US Lawmakers and the EU Authorities, are you sure you want to fight the harmless Libra, which relies on your own fiat currencies? Then wait for the visitors — the young and hungry Asian Tigers that will not hesitate. Their private money today has already a capitalization of billions of dollars.
On the plane home, another paradoxical thought came to my mind. Everywhere, including at this conference, everyone talks so much about the digital Yuan. That looks like a smokescreen. How is the digital Yuan on the blockchain really different from the fiat Yuan? From my point of view, there is no difference. How will the digital Yuan help China in the trade war against the United States? I do not think it would make any difference at all. Therefore, may be the most probable scenario would look like that: regardless of the appearance of the Yuan cryptocurrency, China will support Bitcoin. No form of the Yuan will undermine the hegemony of the US Dollar, but Bitcoin with the support of China has every chance to do it. Trump will lose. Dixi.
