Great article, thanks for sharing. I've smashed the upvote button for you!

I do think they do pose a threat, but they can also adopt them and evolve with them. Just depends which path they take.

Also, if you are looking to get some tokens without investing or mining check out Crowdholding (https://www.crowdholding.com). They are a co-creation platform were you get rewarded for giving feedback to crypto startups on the platform. You can earn Crowdholding's token as well as DeepOnion, ITT, Smartcash and many other ERC-20 tokens.