There is a saying, all news is good news. With respect to the current wave of blockchain technology, this could not be truer.
In early 2016, it was hard to find commentary on the blockchain space. Still, a very fringe movement, Bitcoin had seen several major rises and falls and with the Ethereum DAO hack, the idea this technology could be anything more than a gimmick was starting to feel like the reality. However, something changed. With the attack of the DAO and its small coverage in mass media, the larger market was introduced to the idea of smart contracts for the first time. No longer was Bitcoin a sole blockchain in the forest, trying to become a ‘new currency’, Ethereum opened peoples minds and captured their imagination.
The question that was being asked is; 'what technology, company, service or protocol could benefit from a trust-less, decentralized protocol?' For many, this was the moment of inspiration, the moment where it was clear to see entire industries that serve no other purpose than being an un-necessary middleman could potentially transform into beautiful elegant systems. As of by magic independent channels started appearing across social media landscapes. Fueled by a common interest to learn more, make mistakes and be part of this movement, this wave of additional attention shone a much brighter light on the market for the first time. Perhaps as a consequence of this viral spreading of information or just simply by fate itself the crypto market started its bull run that would make bankers take notice, Governments sit up and look and many, many early investors very wealthy.
Through 2017 it was clear to see the blockchain market hit a hard to ignore status. There are always two very easy things to write about in mainstream media
- When a lot of money in an industry has been made
- When there has been a huge loss or a scandal
Needless to say, blockchain is a content creators best friend. From story’s of the 10,000 bitcoin pizza purchase (valued in 2017 at many millions given the price rise) through to young teenagers who found misplaced hard drives and are now instant millionaires. Every day something new about blockchain was jumping out and being consumed at an amazing rate. This exposure continued to draw more eyes, hears, hearts and minds. The media explosion lead to an investment moonshot. Initial coin offerings went from a weekly event to multiples of new projects starting to implement daily. Unregulated this lead to Mum and Pop speculators jumping into the market as an opportunity to be the next Bitcoin Millionaire.
It has been clear that the energy of the space has remained high. Companies, individuals and media are all incentivized to keep creating content and awareness for this movement. Even major broadcasters from CNBC, CNN, ABC, BBC, RT and others have put resources and attention into discussing the current happenings within the space, covering major events and partnerships. It is clear to see that crypto and blockchain technologies are now an embedded story within the current news cycle. Every day there is re-enforcement that this will be a life-changing technology for society. Trust continues to grow in the market and even early nay-sayers such and Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan are becoming converts and taking the market seriously.
It’s only early 2018 but the signals are looking strong. Government actions and an overall cooling of the market has made discussion on blockchain projects more about the technologies themselves rather than the ups and downs of the market cycles or headline events. This looks to be like it’s a good thing, as there is a cooling of speculation specifically through January and February and with loads of projects looking to ‘go-live’ with consumer-ready projects through 2018 there will be plenty of good news to discuss in the months to come!