Crypto Is Not Going Away Anytime Soon, And Here’s Why.
Cryptocurrency. What is it? As a teenager I heard the ramblings about Bitcoin, and if I remember correctly, it was something along the lines of buying something that didn’t really exist. I would think to myself “what’s the point of that?”, and forgot about it shortly after. This is definitely one of those hindsight is 20/20 situations.
Enter January 2020 — The pandemic was at it’s peak, I lost my job, and Game Stop became single handedly the most talked about event since the pandemic. I didn’t much about stocks, but from what I was being told, it was a BIG deal. The guy I’m seeing starts mentioning crypto and NFTs, so we looked into. I will not lie to you, the researching, deep diving, and the countless videos trying to understand the blockchain was not easy, but as the saying goes “if it were easy, everyone would do it.” To say I had no idea what I was doing is an understatement, so I’m glad I had someone around that had an idea of where to start. So what’s got people buzzing about crypto? In the words of Philip Defranco, “let’s just jump into it!”
Cryptocurrency has been around for over the last decade, making it’s notoriety with every maxi’s dream, Bitcoin. Created by the ever elusive Satoshi Nakamoto, this digital asset’s first reported price was $0.00099/BTC. Since then, Bitcoin has seen ATH’s in 2021 of over $60,000 US. Today, there are thousands of crypto tokens and projects in circulation and no doubt, more on the way.
Over the last decade, digital based assets have slowly been taking over and making a name for themselves in many forms, from Play-to-earn gaming, DeFi staking platforms, DAOs, to what has to be the biggest trend since the Tamagotchi — NFTS. If I were to go through each one of these on their own, I’d have novel I could publish and end up on New York Times Best Seller list. Don’t worry, they’ll each get their own spotlight in future articles.
So why now? If crypto has been around for over 10 years, why all of a sudden has there been such a surge in digital assets? It’s simple…evolution. No one thought to themselves “the internet is only going to get better.” When you went out and bought your Blackberry Pearl I bet you never thought you would see the technologically advanced iPhone that made it’s debut shortly thereafter. In order for there to be success, there needs to be progress. The strides that crypto had made globally thus far has barely scratched the surface.
The utility behind each digital asset is important for the fundamentals of our future’s technology. From providing better APY rates than any bank will ever offer, to ensuring a safer and more secure way to store your information on the internet, even down to earning a passive income while gaming.
Global adoption has ramped up over the last few years, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Stadiums being named after crypto exchanges, partnerships with the likes of Amazon, Wal-Mart, Samsung, Adidas, PayPal, Tesla, just to name a few — Twitter now accepting to connect users to be tipped in cryptocurrency, and even countries around the world are slowly adopting cryptocurrency as a legal form of tender that can be used to purchase every day items.
I can almost guarantee that in the last year you have heard a family member, a friend, a co-worker, or even the Barista that makes your coffee talk about non-fungible tokens, or more commonly referred to as NFTs. These artsy little Jpeg’s came into the world faster than the Kool-Aid man could get through your living room wall. Like I said before, they will have their own article as there is plenty to unpack in that box, but the future of NFTs is endless.
Passports, concert tickets, immunization records, student filing —this is just a small fraction of what is in store. The NFT craze has gone from fun looking profile photos with their own unique attributes, pieces of a puzzle, sports collectables, digital wearables to rock in the metaverse, comic books, to giving people access to the hottest parties in town. Every blockchain has their own version of NFTs and some are selling for millions of dollars. I can hardly wait to see what’s next for the NFT space.
The image above is a glimpse of what you would see if you were looking at the entirety of an iceberg. You only can see a very small piece of it above water. This photo is a great representation of what crypto is now, and what’s laying below sea level at what’s to come.
Cryptocurrency’s market cap is up 187% overall since 2021 and when it comes to investing, you need to focus on the long-term. It’s important to do your research when looking into specific projects, taking a look at it’s utility, the team behind it, it’s investors, and it’s long-term plans. While the latest meme coin might look like it’s going “to the moon”, it’s important to take precautions when going all in. You need to be willing to lose in order to gain, however, there are no rewards without risk. Digital assets are what look to be the future so you might want think about where you’ll be when it takes over. Don’t be the one that gets left behind.
