It's no secret that when I first got into cryptocurrency I was the most skeptical person I knew. I honestly thought that eventually someone would put their foot down and try and outlaw our magical internet money. As I began investing my own money, I made sure to not invest anything more than I'd be comfortable losing. I started with a set amount of funds and said, win, lose or draw, this money is dedicated to crypto. If it all goes tits up, so be it. I'm in this till we go mainstream or the very end.
I became a crypto believer. I didn't care anymore about losing the money, it was more about trying to change the face of finance and money for the world. I believed in the concept of borderless money that couldn't be seized or frozen. I believed in the concepts of taking the power of money away from governments and giving that power back to the people. I don't want to get into my politics of crypto but my beliefs had a big impact on why I've stuck around as long as I have. Maybe that's a post for another time.
For now, I had my money invested. It was a couple weeks of pay from my 9 - 5 job and I was committed to building a trading account from it or losing it all. Luckily I ended up building a nice trading account from it. Several actually and haven't added any additional money to the trading fund since. Since then I've divided my crypto gains into cash, crypto holdings, and stocks. I told myself there would be a couple signs I'd look for before even considering going all in again. Over the last couple months I've seen those signs appear.
The main thing I was looking for were major players in the tech industry getting involved. I always said that as soon as Google, Facebook, Apple, PayPal, Amazon etc started getting involved, that would be the writing on the wall that we're going mainstream. Once one does, they'll all follow suit! Well, PayPal entered the space in a limited capacity and Facebook has announced Libra will get rolled out in 2021. We also seen the Robinhood stock trading platform roll out crypto trading also in a limited capacity. Square has entered the space. These are all major players with very influential backers. On top of that, each day we hear of new institutions buying up larges sums of bitcoin. The writing is on the wall, we're going mainstream and at this rate we're going to see it in the next few years.
As far as bull markets are concerned I'm bullish. I'm also bullish long term. I'm still not going all in again.. YET!
On a side note it's never a good idea to go all in on anything. Balls deep in crypto might be a better term or not. Just saying.
So before I go balls deep in crypto heres a couple things I'm looking for.
Facebook... I want to see how regulators and governments react to one of the largest platforms in the world offering their own currency. This is huge! I also want to see if people will have to cash out on exchanges like PayPal, Gemini, and Coinbase. If that's the case, this is going to expose a lot of new people to BTC and alt coins. Funny how this is all coming together too with PayPal now entering the picture. Being the largest social media platform in the world I'm also wondering how soon we see "Libra Accepted Here" signs in local groceries and retail shops. These Main St. businesses will only be to eager to accept it. Any store or business that has a Facebook page will likely accept Libra payments eventually.
PayPal is now acting more like a custodial service for buying, selling and holding BTC. However, it is rumored that they may allow transfers and purchases utilizing crypto as early as next year. I'm not PayPal and I'm only speculating but I'm guessing their dipping their toes in the shallow end of the pool, getting their feet wet and learning as they grow instead of just diving in the deep end! It's the smart move.
Robinhood and Square have made huge gains in crypto trading. JP Morgan has changed their tune considerably about their attitude towards cryptocurrency as well. It's apparent the flood gates are open and everyone wants in!
Most of us suspected that the major tech companies like Google, Apple and Facebook would roll out their own coins. These companies have some of the most brilliant minds in the world working for them. Why wouldn't they? On top of that we're going to see these major players fix the ease of use issues. This is about making crypto easy for our parents and grandparents. This is AOL in the mid 90s making internet and email easy for the average person that wasn't a tech geek. While this is all happening people will be exposed to other crypto and other technologies. Picking the right coins and technologies will be like buying Amazon at $30 a share.
I think usecase in this market will be what it's all about. Protocols like HIVE for social media, XRP and XLM for payment protocols and banks, BTC as digital gold (seriously I'm skeptical on this SOV scenario, but it seems to be playing out like this). Storj, Siacoin, Filecoin for AWS and storage like services. I'm not shilling these coins, I'm simply giving examples of usecase and how there will be room for a lot of different cryptos and protocols. Different coins will have different usecase.
I also think it's important to pay attention to the exchanges and the coins they're accepting or embracing (for the time being). We're already seeing that now. We have some coins that are fantastic projects but the major exchanges just aren't dealing with them. If they're not available on exchange, if you can't trade them or exit to another form of currency, they're going to be dead in the water!
I guess my point to all this is the writing is on the wall. Major adoption is coming. It's moving fast and now that the big players are entering the picture it's more important than ever to pay attention as investors. Watch for the signs. Do your own due diligence and be ready for that rocket ride to the moon. On that same note though, pay attention to Facebook and PayPal, it's going to be more important than ever to see how regulators and governments react to all this. THEY ARE NOT READY TO LOSE THEIR CONTROL OF MONEY, and that's exactly what cryptocurrency and mass adoption brings to the table.
Once things really get rocking and rolling a lot of people are going to be questioning the rolls banks play in our finances. Eventually we're going to reach a point where we may not need to cash out on an exchange and your corner grocer will be more than happy to accept your Feathercoin, Doge, LTC or HIVE for payments of goods and services. Facebook is in almost every home in the world, it will just be a matter of time till brick and mortar stores have signs that read, "Libra Accepted Here". They're going to want to cash in on the popularity of the worlds most popular social platform. This will open the floodgates. The only thing that's stopping them now is need and popularity. When a crypto wallet on a smartphone becomes as popular and as important as a good web browser you can bet the corner grocer starts to accept crypto payments. Just like we have Visa, MasterCard and Amex, stores will also accept several different cryptos.
The writing is on the wall. Mainstream adoption is approaching. I'm moving slowly but the time to go balls deep in crypto is fast approaching. Pay attention to the signs, because the people that understand what's coming will reap the rewards or dodge a major bullet depending on which way this thing goes! At this point it boils down to regulation and adoption!
Nothing here is meant as financial advice. Seek a duly licensed financial advisor for financial advice, not some moron on the internet that refers to himself as The Dood. This is posted on a public forum in the spirit of conversation and nothing more. It's safe to assume that The Dood has holding in any coins or cryptocurrencies mentioned! Always do your own research. Crypto trading is an extremely volatile market and huges losses can be incurred.