Steem headed to $10?
The Steemit community has patiently waited for years for the price of Steem to reach the true value of the network (in terms of Metcalfe's law). It seems now the market has finally recognized the value of Steem as a community. The growth of Steem to over $6 could indicate we will see $10 in 2018. This growth will mean there will be plenty of funding capability for SMTs, Oracles, and many other discussed solutions. It also means it will be much much harder for people to buy their way to whale status.
This means all current Steem whales are some of the most lucky participants in the entire crypto community. While some are large holders in projects which do not have underlying utility, Steem actually has underlying utility and measurable wealth. Metcalfe's law requires tracking active users and as active users on Steem grows, combined with greater utility of Steem itself, the wealth of the network also grows. Utility is of Steem is increased by SMTs, by Oracles, by side projects built on top of Steem, even by some of the beneficial bots.
Enigma allows secret contracts, security gain possible without loss of privacy
Enigma is the #3 fastest growing crypto currency right now
Enigma takes a different approach from the approach Dan Larimer outlined in his last article. Dan Larimer in his article takes the approach which states in order to get security from theft everybody must see everything and monitor everyone else. This in essence outsources things to the crowd. In my opinion this approach inherently brings unnecessary risk as the crowd itself can abuse the investigation process and personality cults can form in the crowd.
The Enigma approach differs in that it seeks to create data markets. Data markets strike a different balance because the individual always maintains ownership of their data even when it's being analyzed. In the solution by Dan Larimer there is no mention of the crowd requiring warrants, or what the laws are supposed to be, or how the crowd can be kept reasonable, rational, etc. The Enigma approach does not require the crowd to see the data in order for the data to be analyzed by machine intelligence.
Enigma is supposed to work based on homomorphic encryption (specifically called somewhat homomorphic encryption), which allows for computation on encrypted information. This in my opinion is the answer, where everyone can trust the network to keep their secrets safe while also allowing for the benefits of analysis. Analysis in a way which no human being can abuse the process as human beings shall not be involved in the process. Removing human involvement reduces the attack surface, reduces the possibility of abuse of the process. This may not solve every problem but it does in my opinion solve a lot of the legal problems where an honest player would like to prove they are honest to a network without revealing their identity to individual human beings.
In order for homomorphic encryption to work we have to be able to trust our machines. In order for the crowd to work we have to be able to trust human beings. In my opinion when it comes to dealing with confidential information, the human being has never been reliable. Humans with access more often than not will abuse their access because it gives them advantages over other humans with less access. If all humans have equal access then the humans which are best at conforming could form personality cults and abuse their position. Homomorphic encryption allows for a renegotiation of the balance between privacy and security, by allowing investigators with a warrant to do their work without violating privacy or requiring the crowd to take on the responsibility of the investigators.
Enigma is estimated to be worth 100 billion over 5 years
Whether or not homomorphic encryption is efficient right now is the question. In the long term I predict that due to Moore's law the performance will improve. CPUs will keep getting faster, more efficient, and more numerous. While this is not investment advice I view Enigma as an Ethereum level opportunity in the crypto space at these prices. I bought into Enigma because upon evaluating the pseudo-code in the whitepaper and the theory behind it I found the design to be plausible. I also know they have the brain power to improve on the design flaws over time (MIT backing and support), so when I think that the hardware and software will likely keep getting better which could include new breakthroughs in homomorphic encryption, I do think over a 5 year period holding this token favors me. Also I know this token is scheduled to have MasterNodes which could give it the opportunity theoretically to generate passive income.
My current position on ENG: Long term hold 5+ years, estimated price per token over $100.
