Navigating The Post-Bitcoin Era - Hint: Steem Matters
18 years ago I started a web design company. As a matter of fact, it was a "web anything" company, as I was doing everything: design, coding, hosting. And, most of all, marketing. I was spending at least half of my time searching for clients.
One of these clients just opened a private clinic in Bucharest. He was one of the few that wanted a website immediately, without giving me the standard "we're already advertising on news paper and on tv" rejection sentence. He was also my first paying customer.
We soon became friends. At some point, I asked him why starting something in the medical field: he wasn't a doctor. By education, he was a stock market trader.
He told me: "Well, I was playing the stock market for about 5 years. And then one day my maid asked me if she should buy a specific stock. At that point I knew stock market got way too crowded. It was so mainstream, that I needed to find something else. Of course, I still use my experience as a trader, but the margins are way too small now for me in the stock market thing. There are other areas where growth will be explosive."
Of course, he was right. Private medical services took off and he sold his clinic for a very good profit after 10 years.
Is Bitcoin Crashing Under Its Own Weight?
I started with this (true) story with the obvious intent of pointing at Bitcoin.
With every major news about Bitcoin adoption, something very important happens. Bitcoin is becoming heavier and heavier. We all love to tell the story of: "it was $100 in 2015, now it's $8000" but we forget the contexts are completely different now. As a matter of fact, we want the history to repeat itself and see the same growth happening again, but chances are smaller and smaller with each and every day.
Why?
First of all, because there is a lot of competition now. In 2015, there was hardly any relevant competitor to Bitcoin. Ethereum was just preparing to launch. Crypto was still a weird thing. For many, it still is, but that's not the point.
Second, with mass adoption regulation will come. This is unavoidable. And, to a certain extent, necessary. And by regulation I don't mean regulating the blockchain itself, but regulating the flow of money in and out of Bitcoin.
And third, the bigger the size of something, the stronger its inertia. Inevitably, Bitcoin will slow down.
So, the golden days are (pretty much) over. I know you don't want to hear this. But that's just me. You don't have to believe me. And, to be honest, I don't really want to be right, but a long history of being over-enthusiastic taught me to always have some salt around.
That's the bad news.
But there is also some very good news.
Alternatives?
My opinion - and again, you don't have to believe me - is that Bitcoin, as a store of value, will plateau soon. But that doesn't mean the entire crypto-currency field will plateau. On the contrary. It's like the web. The technology will thrive, even if their first "giants" will go down.
My personal bet is on appcoins. And by appcoins I mean tokens which are already tied to something else.
The most obvious example is Steem. It's not just a blockchain minting tokens. It's a social network. It's a community. It's an ecosystem.
There are also other examples:
- file storage tokens (Filecoin, Storj, Siacoin)
- gaming tokens (e11)
- mixed banking tokens (BNK)
In my humble opinion, that's where the explosive growth will happen.
But as of now, all this is just speculation. Time will tell.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):
I think This is a natural part of any new market/tech, i do believe bitcoin still has a Big prt to play the next Two or three years, and eventually hit upwards of 50,000$, but the same time that happens I think there will be a diversification, app coins are for sure going to be the next big one. Unfortunately I don't think Steem will be the winner, I think Steem before next summer will reach about 10$ but then I think January 2020 will bring a new social media platform more mature to the crypto space and more aimed at the masses that will take the throne.
But hey that's just my two cents
For the purpose of P2P digital Cash I'm betting on Dash, NEM, PIVX mainly. There are other good products like Verge or ZENcash and Hcash. I've actually gone as far as to say BTC will worth $500 by 2020. Why?
Cryptos aren't real things. They are just software, computer codes, math. Their worth is in the functionality. A crypto needs to excel at
Take Dash for an example. They resolved the block size issue in a matter of hours. They are scaling to VISA level Tx volume with fees worth cents and transactions that take 1.3 seconds. You can even decide to pay 10 times lower fees if you are willing to wait 2.5 mins. When transferring to an exchange they ask for 6 confirmations and it has always been ~15mins for me.
NEM support smart contracts. Has multi-signature support. It has tons of use cases: https://nem.io/enterprise/use-cases/
Amazing partnerships: https://nem.io/enterprise/partner-companies/
Just visit the site and behold the awesomeness.
Then there is PIVX which is just PoS Dash with few changes and Zerocoin privacy instead of trustless mixing. Feel free to check them.
My favorite is Dash and their community is just heavenly angels compared to some fights I've seen in the crypto-space: https://steemit.com/@vimukthi/lessons-from-dash-community-vs-pivx-how-to-act-like-the-adult-in-the-room-and-stop-the-pointless-hostility-to-embrace-the
Good morning Dragos,
In my humble opinion, This IS an excellent Post and very thought provoking in very powerful/positive ways...
This Post You've created and the ideas expressed within it... are SO important that I believe You should be elevated much higher on the Witness List... because it's this type of thinking that can help elevate not only the price of STEEM but also the awareness of Steemit itself.
Of course, I voted for You as a Witness many months ago, but Your ability to think "Outside-the-Box"... such as this specific Post, means You could bring the necessary type of creative, "Outside-the-Box" thinking that SHOULD be requirement for our top 20 Witnesses, again, in my humble opinion.
I would like to directly communicate with You via DM on Discord, perhaps sometime this weekend... would that be okay with You ? because I realize You live in Eastern Europe and I live in Florida, USA (EST).
Please let me know what days and times might be best to communicate with You because I would like to help raise Your position in the ranks as a Witness and I have some ideas to help do just that.
Again, Thank You @DragosRoua for this Post... ReSTEEMed...
Cheers !!
Thank you for your nice words and for your support! Of course we can communicate on the Steemit chat, I have the same nickname. I'm usually at the comp between 9 AM and 9 PM, EET, so any time in this window will suit you.
I believe the same too. There are 1000s of Altcoins and most of them will be washed away but those which are adding value to the community, like Steemit as you pointed out, will continue to remain and probably even prosper. Would be interesting to see how Bitcoin & Ether go, however, and whether it would be in the same direction or opposite to each other.
In my opinion, Ether will have a much longer lifespan than Bitcoin. It's the ecosystem part of it that will support its growth. Many tokens are issued on Ethereum and many appcoins are using it. Storj, if I'm not wrong, migrated from Counterwallet to Ethereum.
they did
@dragosroua I believe that STEEM will be $5.00 come summer of 2018, but what the hell do I know ?? I am just one of those Silver and Gold guys that just keeps waiting and waiting and waiting..............
Hi @dragosroua
Straight off the bat, I am not a Crypto expert, however, the historical principle you describe here is spot on.
There are countless examples where pioneering technologies/businesses/industries went the exact same route. Early adopters normally received maximum results and based on their success the crowds followed until it became saturated. Then as you rightfully pointed out legislation/regulation will enter.
It would be very dangerous and naive to think that Bitcoin will follow a different path. That said, I am also of opinion that there are many other opportunities within the same segment.
Thank you for a very insightful post.
Have a blessed day
Thanks for putting it in easier words :)
Very relevant post. I was talking with a 76 year old neighbor recently and he brought Bitcoin. That tells me that it's getting on the oversaturated side. Here's hoping Steem gets some love.
The signs are already here. For Steem, I mean...
I strongly believe so, itz like you took words from my lips. BTC today is trading at $8000 or even more but there is a time to plateau for everything and BTC is no different (not being lunatic about crypto, i have strong faith in future of crypto). Some officials of BTC have even predicted that BTC is going beyond million dollars in not so far future. But i believe that is highly unlikely coz today there are so many altcoins in crypto (Some good futuristic coins) that could prove a Steep mountain to climb for BTC. I believe BTC may plateau at some $10k or $15k at most but i am no expert.
Value depends on labor (wages) and rent (capital). The question for me is whether mining blocks for bitcoin is actual labor. I feel that it is because there is labor in maintaining the bitcoin network. But steem is actually partly linked to the labor of contributing content on steemit.
Value does not depend on labor, it depends on agreement. Labor is just one variable that can be included in an agreement and because work is perceived as a necessary contribution to society, it became the norm. But fundamentally, value is just a form of agreement.
There's a saying if it becomes the talk of the town it's time to cash out.