Back in the late 70s and early 80s, there was a small group of people who had a vision that every American would eventually own a personal computer.
Some even had the foresight to purchase shares of Apple back in 1980 or Microsoft in 1986 when these companies had their IPOs and raised $60-$100 million dollars.
The same applies to people who first saw the potential of the automobile, the Internet, Twitter, and more. These early adopters have always been considered "weird" by society at large.
Early Adopter Downsides
Being in that small group isn't easy, because almost everyone around you thinks that you're either crazy or weird, especially when you explain what you do.
Only in hindsight does it become obvious that cars, personal computers, and social media would become ubiquitous, and "normalized".
Afterwards, a lot of people look back in regret, wishing that they had invested in these companies when they were worth a fraction of what they are today.
Opportunity is always present, however. It just requires contrarian thinking - a trait which often leaves you feeling left out of the crowd.
Discovering Opportunities
Back in 2011, there was another small group of "strange" people who saw the potential of Bitcoin as unstoppable global money, and invested accordingly.
As a side note, while Bitcoin has become an unstoppable "Store of Value" (SoV) that protects you from fiat debasement, it is no longer the peer-to-peer cash it was originally intended to be, and its long-term viability is still in question.
I met people back in 2015 and 2019 who were certain that they had missed the boat when it came to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. They would claim that either the prices were too high, or that the industry was dying off - which definitely felt like the case during those bear markets.
But we all know what happened in 2017 and 2021.
The Best Is Yet To Come
Although Bitcoin has been around for over 16 years, cryptocurrency is still in its nascent stages. It has taken over a decade for some of the smartest people on earth to realize the potential of decentralized, trustless blockchains, and commit themselves to the industry.
To me, that means the best is yet to come.
The question is, what opportunities exist today that have the potential to produce fruit like Apple, Microsoft, and Bitcoin did, while taking into consideration that fiat is on its last legs, and "wealth" may take on a very different meaning in the future.
Are the opportunities in AI, DeFi, DePIN, RWA, SoFi, GameFi, or something else?
Escaping From Tunnel Vision
We must always be willing to take a step back and recognize our emotional biases that could interfere with our rational thinking. For example, when the fiat value of a cryptocurrency you hold skyrockets, you may form an emotional attachment to it, and get tunnel vision, succumbing to echo chambers.
To avoid tunnel vision, it's important to remain open-minded, while also using your critical thinking skills to not get swept away by your emotions. One way to do this is to invest a very small amount of capital into new and interesting projects, and follow their updates on a weekly or daily basis to determine if they are in fact legitimate and have potential.
Until next time...
Early adopters of technology have always been considered strange or weird by society at large, but these are the kinds of risks you need to take if you want to be part of something that changes the world.
If you learned something new from this article, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the Hive blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.