Crypto Evolution we’re all waiting for
There’s 2 weeks left in 2018 crypto world and to be quite frank, it has been filled with a range of emotions. Many of you who have either actively participated or even watched from the sidelines will have had your own unique experiences through one of the biggest bubbles the world has ever experienced. In my short lifetime, it’s definitely the first one that I’ve experienced personally (too young for the infamous 2008 Lehman Crash). I know colleagues who have remained extremely confident while others who have been completely devastated by this new technology that has gripped the world headline’s.
The same time last year was one wild rollercoaster up — knowing that the fall had to come sometime. No one expected $20,000 BTC months before it occured, nor did we know what to expect going into this year. Predictions were thrown left and right. Some expected this to be the finale for the Bitcoin craze while others continued on to predict anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 per BTC. A yes, those were numbers that were not predictions for 2028… but more like, for today. Hitting $20k certainly provided fuel to those who predicted such extreme valuation with no fundamental use case but the immediate drop in prices brought back the nay-sayers.
In the end, it was a whole bunch of confusion about prices on unproven projects and coins — bringing about more noise than facts. Everyone had an opinion and then, more opinions on top of that.
Let’s talk about NOW
After all that, the calm after the storm is where we’re at. But as history shows, each evolution comes around even quicker. Humans survived as hunter gathering nomads for 2 million years before the agricultural revolution jump started a more sophisticated society. That lasted roughly 12,000 years before a series of scientific revolutions evolved society even further. The Industrial Revolution happened only a few hundred years ago.
The Internet Revolution really happened, like a few decades ago. And the newly coined term for the cryptocurrency era is the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” that began exactly a decade ago.
My point is …
The rate of change is hard pressing on that acceleration.
2019 is just around the corner and I don’t see anything stopping its path. It certainly won’t be what we have seen in the past because we are innately built to evolve.
Changes that we await
Here are two key issues/changes that I hope to see in the coming months and years —
- THE Killer App
- One Key Centralization Feature maintaining Decentralized Products
1. THE Killer App
One of the positive elements that have come out since the birth of crypto has been the ability for everyday regular individuals to be able to invest in the same manner as large VC funds do. I wouldn’t discount the fact that most projects would still prefer to start their fundings at a prominent VC fund, but once the project is listed onto exchanges, it’s completely open to public.
The general public are more accessible to upcoming projects and while it differs case by case, many can participate as more than just investors. The makeup of current market players would be mainly crypto enthusiasts who have been able to carve out a piece of the market. Since the rise and fall of the bubble, we have seen a varying degree of interest from the global audience but it’s difficult to say the industry has cemented itself yet.
Soon enough, we will be experiencing young adults who have grown up their whole lives with smartphones. They are completely adapted to life with smartphones, and frankly, cryptocurrency will just be another tech innovation to which they have grown up with.
With social media and gaming tied so closely to the current adolescent culture, I believe it will be one of the first real world crypto use case that will be adopted.
The craze of video games is nothing new. My first video game console at the age of 6 was the Nintendo Color — playing every Pokemon game out there. Next console was the Nintendo DS. It’s been too long to remember but if I recall correctly, we had a wire connecting two DS consoles called a “shark” (correct me if I’m wrong on this). That enabled me and a buddy to battle it out or trade our Pokemon.
No parents. No teachers. No one taught us how to do it. We talked and figured it out on our own. And these adolescents growing up with technology even more advanced will toy around with whats available to them and eventually, figure out what’s important for a game to have.
Once Pokemon got old, we had Maplestory, Crazy Arcade, and World of Warcraft. As we got older, we had FIFA, NBA2K, and Call of Duty. In 2018, the new hype games look to be as if it were Fortnite and PUBG.
A gaming blockchain application may not be as disruptive as most crypto enthusiasts hoped to impact, for example, in the banking industry. But it certainly will be able to change how people perceive the technology. So far, many people have assumptions that its still a scam with “anonymous” black markets and mainly focus on the rise and fall of prices. I still get a sense that the general public has no idea how impactful blockchain will be in the future.
Games incorporated with blockchain technology will prove its ability to make all the claims into a reality. In-game items traded over the chain, token rewards, and ability for each character to be fully owned will be realized in a matter of time. It’s really coming.
2. One Key Centralization Feature maintaining Decentralized Products
The blockchain technology is still extremely young and continues to be refined and redefined every day.
Over the past few months, its been quite clear what market segment has been able to be the front runners in the space. It’s a few established exchanges such as Binance in the Asian market and Coinbase in the US market that has really been able to influence the flow of an entire industry.
Especially after doing some research on early stage exchanges that have trade volume manipulation and liquidity issues, firms like Binance and Coinbase have definitely introduced a bit of trust for regular and first time users. The stories of parents, grandparents, relatives, and friends purchasing some Bitcoin and Ethereum over Christmas last year (despite a probable loss in initial investment) shows how much easier it has gotten to make an account and buy those first few cryptocurrencies. After all, it takes a mass adoption from all different age and ethnic groups to paint the crypto world we all imagine.
Bringing bitcoins to non crypto enthusiast is important but at the same time, these exchanges have its negative effects. Pretty much, these top level exchanges hold the keys for early stage projects to either thrive or go unnoticed.
Being able to present in front of an exchange to get listed is hard enough. Understandably, there are a myriad number of shitcoins that makes it that much more difficult. But once a project is approved after a long arduous process, the price tag that exchanges demand can go for more than $500,000. To put that into perspective, the price tag to get listed on NASDAQ ranges around $200,000.
The list of issues continues but the ridiculous price tag described above gives an idea of how influential these exchanges have really become. As a necessary part of the ecosystem, I do believe that there are solutions coming out in 2019. Many argue for DEX, or Decentralized Exchanges. It has its fair share of pro/cons and at the end of the day, a more fair system made available to the general public is what most crypto enthusiasts hope to see.
A lot of changes are definitely in the works and many exciting projects waiting around for the New Year!
