Let me share a little bit about why I think Bitshares will be your best long-term investment…
Dan Larimer, the dude who created Bitshares with his father, Stan (you may know it as the first decentralized exchange… but it’s so much more), is a true visionary genius.
Obviously…’cause after creating Bitshares, he was a total superhuman and created Steemit too (the world's first decentralized social media platform).
Does this guy ever sleep? Seriously. I want to know.
And if he already wasn’t unrelatable enough, he’s now working on his latest venture, EOS (the future operating system that all businesses will be built upon). If you don't see the trend here… I’ll let you borrow my grandma’s glasses. Just don’t tell her I took them.
The trend here is, the guy is a genius.
Those same blockchains, built by Dan the Man (is it okay to call him that?), currently process twice as many transactions per day than the WHOLE BLOCKCHAIN INDUSTRY combined.
(got this giphy.com)
As adoption grows, performance will matter, and that's where Bitshares will dominate even more. Now, before I go further, let's tackle the one big elephant in the room 🐘...
I GOT 99 PROBLEMS AND ONE OF THEM IS CENTRALIZED EXCHANGES
March 2014 - Mt. Gox ($473 Million Gone)
January 2015 - Bitstamp ($5.1 Million Gone)
August 2016 - Bitfinex ($66 Million Gone)
January 2018 - Coincheck ($400 Million Gone)
And the list goes on… dun dun dun…
What's Wrong With Current Centralized Exchanges?
- Hackers (sometimes even employees) are all over these exchanges like crazy stealing your stuff. Hide your kids, hide your crypto, ‘cause they hackin’ everybody up in here
- Data is stored on their servers which puts you at their mercy if the exchange is down
- They can’t handle too many registrations, so they just don’t let you register on the exchange at times (Why can’t I sign up for Bittrex, fool?)
- More steps in the process. You have to use Know Your Customer (KYC) tools to verify your identity and deal with lots of extra hurdles
- Sometimes withdrawals and deposits take foreverrr
- Not all cryptos are tradable at your favorite exchanges
- Centralized exchanges have a business model that works against you. They make money by imposing high fees on you, no different than a bank
- Trust issues (the exchange could easily manipulate the market in their favor)
- Centralized exchanges are prone to crash and burn (Mt. Gox, etc)
THE SOLUTION? DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGES, BABY
What is a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) and Why Are They the Future?
- Funds are left in your own control, safe in your own wallet. You get to have all the power, mwahahaha (use it for good, not evil...don't be like creep face Jafar)
(got this from giphy) - Easy registration (no extra procedures you have to follow - get set up in seconds)
- With Bitshares, you can use a name like “nomadicsoul” as your send/receive address instead of something lame like x72839823eheo03hf832d8j3042ifhls. Try memorizing that!
- Quick transactions
- Trade in real time with actual assets
- Trades happen on the blockchain or on a payment channel
- High performance trading platform, scalable and robust
- Fast transactions with little fees
- Can't be hacked, no server down time
- Better access to coins and tokens
- Decentralized (which is getting back to the roots of Bitcoin)
- Get security, equal opportunity, and freedom
- No fractional reserve banking
- Stakeholder approved project funding (tokens issued via stakeholder votes to fund developers)
Some Downsides of Decentralized Exchanges?
- They can be difficult to understand and use as a beginner
- People may not trust them (kinda ironic)
- Low liquidity at the moment but growing by the day
The Best Decentralized Exchange Protocol?
Graphene - on the Bitshares blockchain.
You see, the more hacks we see on exchanges (there will probably be a lot more this year), the more you can expect Bitshares' price, demand, and value to increase. 😃 😃
The concept behind Bitshares is super advanced. It's proven to work. And the incentives make complete sense. Which brings me back to Dan Larimer, and the godfather of Bitshares, @stan.
Some people see Dan Larimer as someone who has abandoned both Bitshares and Steemit. But, in my opinion, that's nonsense. If he's a creator, and that's where his skills lie (in creating and developing amazing technologies), then why would you want him to stick around and work on sales and marketing and taxes when someone else could do that?
He's meant to create. So, let him create. Don't tie him down. A person like that is the definition of a producer and someone that constantly delivers immense value to this world!
As for abandoning those projects? Well, ever since he built and 'left' Bitshares, it has grown like crazy. Ever since he built and 'left' Steemit, it has grown like crazy. The man has a pretty good track record and you'd be foolish to bet against him.
As for the Connection Between EOS and Bitshares?
(logo from themerkle.com)
EOS will be an upgrade for Bitshares, not competition. Yay! No fighting to the death.
In fact, many smart people are viewing EOS as the research and development department for Bitshares, which makes sense to me. I’m gonna go with what the smart people say. In other words, when it's finally built and ready to go, BitShares will simply adopt it like it adopted Graphene without any issues. BTS 3.0 is coming.
And the best part?
It will likely adopt EOS in a matter of seconds.
Another reason why you should invest in Bitshares (and support the Larimer projects)?
The technology, of course!
But don't just take my word for it...
Nope. Instead, go to the link below, to see just how fast the tech works. This is where you can find and track the real value of certain blockchains (that currently exist today) >>>
All you have to do is some research to find real-time network load data and system stress, as seen on Blocktivity, and you'll uncover a big part of the BTS project.
As you can see though, Dan's babies (Steem and BTS) are already crowned as kings for the fastest blockchains in the world, as they have stayed at the top of the rankings, along with Ethereum and Bitcoin. These are proven projects that are successful.
And EOS will be no different.
I can see EOS being huge with block.one and Dan as the Chief Technology Officer behind the project. This is also why you should want to bet on the visionary and entrepreneur, and not on the academic. Although I appreciate the experts that come from academia (as they do serve a purpose), it's much better to see an imperfect project launched into the world, than to wait forever on one, due to things like peer reviews.
Of course, this is all just my opinion...
But here's why I'm so bullish on Bitshares long-term.
(pic taken from the Daily Reckoning)
Because it's not just a cryptocurrency!
It's much more than that...
Like an Onion, Bitshares Has so Many Other Layers
And as more people understand those layers, it will take off to new heights, especially once it gets adopted by large enterprises and institutions.
Bitshares is going to impact the world of business (similar to how Bitcoin is impacting the world of gold, money supply, commodities, stocks, offshore banking, etc).
We are on the verge of something ginormous!
Why? Because of its many layers (that have yet to be uncovered by the masses). Its network is an economy in and of itself.
You see, the Bitshares ecosystem, network effects, and existing community has insane reach, volume, and market potential (especially as it grows more and more every single year).
It can easily solve many of the problems centralized exchanges are facing today, too.
In an advanced decentralized exchange (DEX) like Bitshares, the exchange doesn't maintain custody over the funds. Trades can also be performed atomically. If done by smart contract, the code can be made public and auditable.
As For Its Many Layers?
Geez, where do I begin...
It's a decentralized exchange platform. It's a network. It's a bank. It's a stockbroker. It's a breeding ground for new technology and innovation.
More importantly? It's a self-governed economy and system with fair and transparent rules (to empower the masses with economic responsibility and financial freedom).
BitAssets, for example, is one layer that is going to grow leaps and bounds in the future. Why? Because Bitshares has successfully managed to peg its currency to traditional stores of value.
Like gold, or silver, or the US dollar.
How does this work exactly? All BitAssets (BitUSD, BitCNY, etc) are backed by 200% of their value in Bitshares. And Bitshares is the collateral used to back the asset.
For example, every BitGold, is backed with 200% of its gold value in Bitshares.
So, as more BitAssets are created and loans taken out and used, the more Bitshares you'll see locked up in collateral. The result? It will shrink a lot the Bitshares supply creating higher prices and therefore creating higher buying pressure.
The platform also has other BitAssets that are quite stable besides bitUSD and bitCNY. Their is also bitEUR, bitSilver, bitBTC, etc. These stable currencies, or smart coins, will allow you to be able to weather the storm during market crashes and dips.
It's all very well-thought out and planned (which is another reason why I'm bullish on Bitshares and its many amazing features and benefits).
In simpler terms, what does this all mean? It means less volatility, less manipulation, and less sketchiness (cough tether cough). Being able to provide this type of stability is unlike anything we have seen in the cryptosphere!
Let me put this into a different perspective for you though...
Bitshares can handle your entire investment portfolio (stocks, precious metals, oil, gold, silver, etc) in a way that is decentralized, safe, and extremely transparent.
How Fast Is The Bitshares Platform and Technology?
Very fast.
In fact, the Bitshares platform is built on top of the Graphene high performance blockchain, which means it's unmatched in speed. Nothing is on its level. Bitshares is capable of maintaining the current transaction speed of up to 3 secs (limited only by the speed of light in a fibre optics cable).
It can even scale to 100,000 transactions per second (That’s more than triple what Visa can do, by the way).
What does this mean for the future of Bitshares and its potential?
This type of rare performance capability allows Bitshares to take market share from traditional fiat financial platforms and banking sectors. It's already doing that. Slowly but surely.
To put this in perspective... Bitshares can carry out and process more transactions than VISA and Mastercard combined. Visa, for example, can only handle 24,000 transactions per second. On top of that, you can expect minimal transaction fees, thus offering amazing advantages over traditional brokers and exchanges.
All I'm saying...
Don't be surprised if you see Bitshares adoption by the financial sector over the next few years or so. Of course, there's still continuous development, especially with EOS coming out.
But you can safely assume that they will be intertwined at some point down the road (somehow someway).
Bitshares is not in competition with anyone or anything in the cryptosphere as it's in an asset class of its own. And it's proven to be years ahead of its time.
It actually reminds me of Bitcoin and how it was years ahead of its time when first created.
It only caught on with the rest of the world years later.
At the end of the day, though...
Bitshares fills a void that allows the crypto world to decentralize the world's modern economy. Exciting times ahead, if you ask me (thanks @stan and @dan).
Now, Why is Bitshares a Great Long-Term Investment?
Simply because Bitshares is a network, a bank, a ledger, a company, an exchange, a software, a community, a currency, a smart coin factory, a gold depository, enterprise integrator, and an economy. Seriously, let that all sink in for a minute...
It’s not an easy concept for most people to grasp.
Bitshares is a sleeping giant!
You see, after some chats on a forum in 2009, and talking directly with Satoshi Nakamoto (the creator of Bitcoin), Dan began a journey to create solutions that secure life, liberty, and property.
This is why he created the world's first trustless cryptocurrency with Bitshares and BitUSD. And it was the first to run on the Delegated Proof of Stake algorithm which has proven to be very effective and fast compared to anything else out there.
The price of Bitshares (BTS) can skyrocket whether more regular people use it, large institutions adopt it, new companies use its technology as their backend... or all of the above. I'm very bullish on Bitshares for all of those reasons!
It really is a game changer as it's the world's first full service alternative financial system that lays out an honest and level playing field for all mankind.
As I said, it’s probably an invention 5-10 years ahead of its time. The transition for enterprises and institutional money to come over to the Bitshares platform can be steady and gradual.
Or significantly fast.
In the case of fast, what would need to happen to propel it to that level?
Well, I could easily see more centralized exchange hacks happening in the near future. I can also see governments trying to regulate centralized exchanges in the name of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
What would events like these do? You can use your imagination. But I can see it causing many wallet holders in these centralized exchanges to suddenly desire something decentralized.
And what would this do to the Bitshares price?
Again, you can use your imagination. But the sky would be the limit. Bitshares is currently building ramps for institutional money…
…’cause few centralized exchanges (like Bittrex) are listing Bitshares due to Bitshares putting them out of business (go figure).
Bitshares is Easily the Most Undervalued Token on the Market!
If we're going by any metric - utility, adoption, volume, speed, development, track record, security, scalability, funding, features, upgrades, community, etc. Bitshares takes the cake.
It's a huge project that continues to grow every single year.
Bitshares is so complex, so unique, and so undervalued that it blows my mind. It’s one of my faves for sure.
It's only a matter of time before companies and institutions move over to the Bitshares platform because of the speed, scalability, and security.
Another amazing fact about the Bitshares technology?
How about the fact that it can handle the volume compared to the NASDAQ. Yeah, that’s right. I said it. The NASDAQ.
You know, the leading provider of trading services and exchange technology for stocks across six continents? Woot woot!
Just think about this...
The U.S. stock market alone is now worth $30 trillion dollars.
Wait until even a tiny portion of that pours over into the cryptosphere…
What About The Other DEX’s Coming Out?
Now, yeah, there are some new decentralized exchanges and projects coming out. EOSfinex being one of them.
But the whole Bitshares platform is so sophisticated (and has been for about 4 years now). It really is ahead of the game as the infrastructure gets used more and more, with established use-cases, and even higher volume.
Bitshares will Become the GOLDEN STANDARD for all Exchanges
Honestly, call me crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if big money moved from the NYSE, NASDAQ, Amex, CME, etc and into Bitshares somehow. Sooner or later.
And this is why the Larimers are geniuses…
They’ve created powerful blockchain technology for the short, mid, and long term future. EOS (smart contracts and dApps), Steem (decentralized social network), and Bitshares (decentralized exchange and more).
With all the theories going on with insider trading with centralized exchanges, high fees, probable hacks, some exchanges pumping up prices so that they can take a cut, and future government regulations, it’s just a matter of time before people start losing trust in centralized exchanges.
Bitshares is completely decentralized. It's actually in the hands of its own stakeholders, even more so than Bitcoin, which is mainly in the hands of mining pool operators.
In other words? Bitshares is overcoming the problems other blockchains haven't even bumped into yet.
And that should tell you a lot about how far Dan and Stan think about things.
Bitshares holds the title for one of the world's fastest blockchains, it's the world's first and most used DEX (decentralized exchange), bitUSD and bitCNY are 'stable' coins that require no third parties, it's able to perform atomic swaps on chain, has huge scalability, has 3 years of stable operations already, has a self funding blockchain that pays developers and workers, is AML/KYC compliant capable, has countless companies using the Bitshares blockchain as their backend, and so on.
There is also no CEO or office as it's completely decentralized. Which is great, ‘cause then it frees up the creator to go do other big things.
Bitshares has no governing authority except for the token holders and representatives we choose to elect. This is where the concept of a Decentralized Autonomous Company (DAC) comes into play. To build something that is completely incorruptible, developers have to be willing to let go of their power and control.
It's all about defending liberty and property by developing honest money and a fair playing field for everyone (including the small guys, and gals, like myself).
That's what Bitshares has become and evolved into over the years.
More Benefits of Bitshares Include:
- Ability to create your own token
- Loaning yourself with 0% interest rate
- Settlement time in seconds
- Fiat and commodity pegged assets (USD, GBP, Gold, Silver, etc)
- Self funding through a treasury (paid out via BTS inflation)
- Username based accounts
- Ability to scale and handle millions of transactions daily
- Fully functional wallet
- $0 fee transactions
And much more!
This should give you an idea as to what banking in the future will look like.
Bitshares is likely to excel at being a behind-the-scenes platform for large enterprises. Not necessarily an application for ordinary people (unless you're into trading).
It's all about network effects as that is what drives exponential growth.
This is why a lot of new businesses are moving over to the Bitshares platform (and bringing millions of their clients and customers along with them). It will likely be used as a protocol for business transfers and trading. Imagine a DEX with margin trading features.
Some people say that Bitshares needs to 'improve marketing' which is a valid point. But the Bitshares platform will likely be used by banks and large institutions and enterprises. Not some regular dude off the street. So, does marketing really matter? Not really.
Bitshares is focused on bringing businesses to the ecosystem, and those companies are then therefore responsible, for marketing to their consumers. That is the goal.
And it's working out perfectly so far.
It's clear to me that Bitcoin is a powerful coin. And Bitshares, is a powerful coin factory, built on top of the blockchain. Overall, the Bitshares ecosystem is like the most beautiful onion ever. (are onions beautiful?!) It has so many freaking layers!
Dan Larimer is the creator of some amazing things...
Bitshares - A decentralized asset exchange (Imagine the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ on the blockchain).
Steemit - A decentralized social media platform (Imagine Facebook on the blockchain).
EOS - A decentralized no fee smart contract platform (Imagine banks, large corporations, d'apps, real estate, small businesses, etc on the blockchain).
In the Decentralized Autonomous Company (DAO) PoS model, the token holders are the shareholders and it's their responsibility to bring value to the company. Because, ultimately, the more value one brings to the platform, the greater their investment will increase.
Much like how Bitshares and Steemit work right now.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum work on the Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm, which is fine, but it means people who want to mine Bitcoin or Ethereum have to spend crazy amounts of time and money on electricity in order to run the servers that are producing all of these blocks.
They both serve great use cases.
But this works out to be somewhat inefficient.
EOS, on the other hand, will be using the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) algorithm, which Dan Larimer invented while developing both the Steemit and Bitshares platforms.
This means that EOS holders are incentivized to use the EOS platform, and developers are incentivized to build on top of EOS, similar to an operating system (because the more people that use EOS, the better, as the price will increase).
The more value one brings to the platform, the more people benefit in general.
All of This is the Evolution of Dan Larimer's Graphene Technology
Not some theoretical idea laid out in some random white paper.
The world benefits from Dan creating amazing decentralized autonomous communities (DACs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized applications (DApps).
Right now, the godfather of Bitshares, Stan Larimer, is pushing for the Bitshares ecosystem to be upgraded from the 'World's First Industrial Grade' blockchain to the 'World's First Institutional Grade' blockchain. That is great to hear, honestly.
Hopefully, this encourages our communities and our governments to be more compassionate, more ethical, more consistent, more fair, and more intelligent.
All of the Larimer projects are based on a new but wise business and economic model, driven by the productivity of an industry, as opposed to speculation on rumors.
This will make Bitshares way more valuable than the wild west that we have right now.
As we continue forward, the Bitshares ecosystem will be fully compliant and licensed for global operations around the world so that institutional investors can use it.
This means that Stan is taking compliance very seriously. This also means that the Bitshares value and network effects will grow immensely over time.
Bitshares Also Has The Equivalent of Bitcoin's First Mover Advantage in Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)
In other words? It would take a lot to catch up and overtake it.
Bitcoin, for example, has a ridiculous amount of competition. We all know this. And yet no one's going to touch Bitcoin for a long time.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that. In fact, the competitors out there even have better technology, speed, transaction times, lower fees, etc. But do any of them have the first mover advantage?
Do they have the brand name that has come from years of trials and tribulations? Do the competitors have the same kind of network effects? Oh snaps.
The answer is 'no' and the same sort of idea applies to the Bitshares platform and it being the world's first decentralized exchange.
Some people even say Bitcoin is going to disappear because the tech is weak and inefficient and compare it to Napster or AOL (and other privately owned companies).
(taken from quickememe)
But there's a problem with that way of thinking...
Because Bitcoin and other crypto networks like Bitshares are not companies. They're networks. And a network doesn't operate like a privately owned company.
Stuff like Bitcoin and Bitshares should instead be thought of like cities.
That's a way better analogy. Compare them to cities. Because, unlike firms, both cities and crypto networks are organized from the bottom up (instead of the top down). Both have rules. They're called laws for cities. And protocols for crypto networks.
And that's what you should want to invest in anyways (solid projects and protocols that are going to impact the world for the better).
Individuals leaders, like CEOs and executives, are deemed more valuable in firms. Not so much in a city. In fact, many Bitcoin investors can’t even name one of the core developers, but so what? That plays very little in one’s investment decision.
The bigger the community gets (with more involvement and activity), the more valuable that crypto network becomes. Since inception, both Bitcoin and Bitshares have been gradually improving and growing. And that isn’t going to stop anytime soon.
Back to Bitshares though... Right now, people need to keep things simple. Do that by analyzing the pros and cons of a centralized exchange versus a decentralized exchange (especially one as powerful and as safe as the Bitshares ecosystem).
Yes, it's an amaze-balls piece of technology.
But, if you dig deep enough, you'll also realize that this is a battle between security and freedom. And the person who gives up their freedom, in order to have security, will soon find that they have neither. For this reason, and for many of the other reasons I listed above...
This is why I'm bullish on Bitshares. Like red bull. All hyped up.
But these are just my thoughts. What do I know? I'm just a girl who got overly excited about BTS and impulsively wrote about it. Kind of like I impulsively buy 25 cent ice cream.