It was a year that saw Bitcoin rise to mainstream popularity. What's next?
Bitcoin had an amazing year. Rising from relative obscurity to conversations with colleagues at the water cooler and family around the dinner table, Bitcoin captured the attention of everyday people. Rising from a value of around $1 000 in January to $20 000 in December (and back down a bit again), the talk was mostly focused on the speculative nature of the currency. People who knew nothing of blockchain technology were suddenly signing up to Coinbase to get a piece of the action.
In 2018, speculation will continue to play an important role, but attention will begin to shift to advancement and usage of blockchain technology. Advances in utility of blockchain technology will allow for it to see more real-life applications. This will happen through the implementation of smart contracts, primarily.
On the Bitcoin side of the market, we will see the introduction of Rootstock, a side chain that will allow for smart contract implementation. Ethereum will also grow in influence as it will enable a broad range of new utilities through its smart contract capabilities. Many of the ethereum-based tokens will be ready for real-world use in 2018 - and it will be time for them to prove their worth.
2018 will be the year where we begin to see the fruition - and perhaps failure - of these new ideas. The free market will allow the strong to survive, while others will fall by the wayside. A sort of economic evolution will take place. Ill-conceived cash-grab projects will collapse while carefully designed and supported projects will take off. 2018 could indeed be the year of altcoins.
Will there be a bubble? For some coins, absolutely. A sorting will begin to take place and the market will decide on the life and death of a number of cryptocurrencies. Investors will focus their trust on the winners of the crypto world and eventually discard the questionable investments. Remember that, surviving the dot.com collapse, companies like Google and Amazon - eventually - flourished.
It's possible the real bubble may not happen for years yet -- this is still a very tiny market, comparatively. This technology is still in its infancy. 2018 will be a year that begins the sorting of these winners and losers.
Get ready for an amazing year!
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