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
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