Crypto Assets and Blockchain: On The Path to Broad Adoption

We in the crypto community are bullish around the news that Bitcoin hit all-time highs. The price, now at $29,031 as of this morning, shows no sign of stopping. A high Bitcoin price is a significant development, not just for investors. It is also good news for crypto-blockchain community networks like #steemit and other blockchain platforms. The good news of runaway Bitcoin prices is now supported by early adopters innovators and early adopters flocking to crypto assets. The recent information that Mr. Russell Okung, a prominent NFL player, has negotiated to receive half of his $13-million salary in Bitcoin is another boon for Bitcoin. Source

Russell Okung #76 of the Carolina Panthers
Grant Halverson | Getty Images

As good as this news is, there is still a long way for blockchain and crypto to go before they become mainstream. This period of innovators and adopters is consistent with the rise of any new technology. In his Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Everett Rodgers points out that this early period is standard and is later followed by a period defined by an emergent, early majority.

If current trends continue, we may be about 18 to 24 months away from the early majority adopters' rise to the crypto asset space.

Image Kaminski (2020). Source

The other side of this crypto asset saga is the ongoing tragic development where the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed suit against Ripple (XRP). This lawsuit and the apparent bad press has made investors skittish, the price of XRP has collapsed, and major exchanges are now delisting the coin. No doubt there is more of this kind of challenge to come in the world of crypto assets.

Beyond just information, I think these developments are significant because before any new technologies become generally adopted, there is a need for the innovators and early adopters to become evangelists.

As techno-enthusiasts, innovators bring passion and vision to the deployment of the technology. They can see beyond the complexity of early-stage technologies. As a result of this appreciation for the novelty of new tools like blockchain and crypto assets, innovators can see past the challenges of onboarding or "getting started." They are thus able to learn these new technologies and deploy them quickly in their own experiences.

Similarly, innovators can demonstrate that there is added value in the new technology because of their high-risk tolerance. In this regard, our current communities are doing important work testing the value of #steemit and other such platforms. Therefore, our resilience is crucial, and where risk-taking leads to added value, we provide an example for the early adopters to join us later on.

Innovators become the first teachers and gatekeepers. If the technology is to be mass-deployed, innovators have to recruit new peers and attach them in the Early Adopter phase. There is a sense that we are now shifting into this phase with crypto and blockchain.

References

Kaminski, J. (Spring 2011).Diffusion of Innovation Theory Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, 6(2). Theory in Nursing Informatics Column. http://cjni.net/journal/?p=1444

Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. Fifth edition. Free Press: New York.

Young, Jabari., (2020, December). CNBC., Russell Okung's bitcoin salary could trigger more pro athletes to invest. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/30/russell-okungs-bitcoin-salary-could-trigger-more-pro-athletes-to-invest.html