2018 Reflections
If 2017 was flying to the moon, 2018 has been about landing back on earth
I recall reading 95 Crypto Theses for 2018 when it was published and thinking “looking forward to reading this at the end of the year.” No surprises. 2018 turned out quite different than most post predictions. That’s why I don’t like forecasts and prefer retrospectives.
Looking back at 2018 here are my three takeaways:
- Bitcoin is cool 😎 again: After the 2014 bitcoin bubble the narrative changed from “bitcoin” to “blockchain” and with the launch of Ethereum dapps were supposed to be the new hot topic until ICOs turned out to be the killer use case. People are realizing that blockchains alone aren’t of much value and bitcoin, after all, is in fact an ingenious, proven, and elegant solution to digital money. The launch of Lightning has also revamped bitcoin’s image.
- Regulation is surfacing use cases that need decentralization: With regulation kicking in and some big projects shutting down (e.g Basis stablecoin), applications that require censorship resistance are starting to appear, weeding out the rest. These use cases are looking increasingly financial, which explains the growing interest in “decentralized finance.”
- Patience: Many were expecting projects such as DFINITY, Cosmos, and more to ship in 2018 but it takes time to build a security product and curate a community. In addition, regulatory headwinds are slowing down innovation as teams become more cautious. The good news is that everyone is focussed on building and with funding drying up and projects scaling back, there’s an opportunity for gems to surface.
What are your takeaways?
From around the web
Betting on Dystopia (Project Syndicate) — Cryptocurrencies are like lottery tickets that “pay off in a dystopian future where they’re used in rogue and failed states … that means that cryptocurrencies are not entirely worthless.”
4 eras of blockchain computing: degrees of composability (Jesse Walden) — Compares the four computing eras (calculator, mainframe, server, and cloud) to crypto eras.
Reject Nocoiner Orthodoxy (Elaine’s Idle Mind) — A somewhat extreme view debunking bitcoin fuds.
The State of Bitcoin (Delphi Digital) — Comprehensive report on Bitcoin assessing “store of value,” “ medium of exchange,” and “key risks.” Long read. Use as reference.
2nd Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study (Cambridge University) — Another comprehensive report. Some takeaways: millions of users are entering the space but remain passive, multi-coin support is expanding, majority of mining facilities are using some share of renewable energy, mining is less concentrated than commonly perceived, and self-regulation reflects maturing industry.
All Teens Want for Christmas is Bitcoin (Breakermag) — Title says it all.
Smiley corner 😄
This is the last Crypto Insights newsletter following a weekly format. More on what’s to come next year.
If you enjoyed this post follow me on Twitter @clairebelmont.
The views expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of my employer.
