Forget the politics of Bitcoin and the issues with Ethereum, the next big thing in technology might very well be right under our nose right now.
Cryptocurrencies are in the middle of a “moment”. The prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum and the entirety of alt-coins are almost all universally increasing in value, and not by a little, but by dramatic amounts. There are a number of theories to explain the sudden price increase in 2017 and some of them have valid merit.
The two major players in cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum) are both facing major issues, challenges, and political issues internally and externally that are causing cause for concern.
Bitcoin, the grandfather of cryptocurrency, is starting to show its age. Transaction times on the Bitcoin network are not just slowing down, they are grinding to a halt. There is a civil war raging regarding the implementation of Segwit and worries of a potential fork.
Ethereum is facing its own set of challenges. Last year, Vitalik Buterin agreed to hard fork Ethereum to return stolen coins from the DAO hack. This, among other issues, has cast a black cloud over Ethereum in regards to the integrity of its network going forward. This caused a spin-off coin, Ethereum Classic that has caused great confusion for new investors.
If you dig through the muddled soup of alt-coins and do enough research, there is one coin that appears to rise head and shoulders above the rest.
Why I Think Stratis Is The Next Big Thing
I am not a huge investor into cryptocurrency. Frankly, I find it very challenging to even get my money into the market. Coinbase is slow, unreliable, has horrible customer service, randomly restricts user accounts, just to mention a few of their plethora of issues.
So when I do manage to get my hard-earned cash into cryptocurrency, I am very selective. I don’t actively trade, I tend to just buy and hold. That has been the only reliable method of profit I have ever managed to do. Needless to say, I do my research. I read all the white papers, I dig into the websites, I read Reddit, I read Twitter, I read Slack, I do my own independent research. Usually, a quick 30 minute research into any given coin will throw up a half a dozen red flags.
After all of my research through this latest crypto “bubble”, there is one coin that I keep coming back to. This coin doesn’t throw up any red flags, it has a actual reason to exist, it has an incredible team and even better technology behind it … and that coin is Stratis.
Here is my case for Stratis, and why I think Stratis is the coin to beat.
Smart Contracts / Sidechains
Stratis allows for complete sidechains that are non-disruptive to the primary blockchain. Bitcoin does not allow for any sidechains. Although there have been attempts at implementation, the results have been messy and the code is a tacky add-on bandaid solution. Ethereum allows for smart contracts but they all exist on the primary blockchain. Do you really think that large corporations with billions of dollars to lose are really interested in creating projects that will co-exist with Johnny Basementdwellers latest ICO scam? Certainly no.
Smart contracts on Stratis eliminate this risk. Smart contracts on Stratis live on thier own true sidechain. Companies can rest assured that their token cannot be compromised by a failed token.
When this fact alone is discovered, you will see a major shift of developers moving from Ethereum to Stratis.
Masternodes
With the impending release of the Breeze Wallet (see below), there is now an incredibly large incentive to run a Stratis masternode. Operating a Stratis masternode will be an incredibly lucrative venture, as it is the core backbone of the Tumblebit functionality in the upcoming Breeze wallet.
Why is this a big deal? Because it takes 250,000 Stratis coins to operate one. Meaning there is a major incentive for large Stratis holder to hold their coins, thus decreasing available supply.
Stratis announces first 'Master Nodes'
stratisplatform.com
Breeze Wallet
One of the most impressive and game changing things to come from Stratis is the Breeze Wallet. This is a Bitcoin wallet which, for the first time, will have Tumblebit built in. This is an incredible deal and will raise awareness of Stratis tenfold.
Segwit Ready
If you have followed any of the drama surrounding Bitcoin and its move to Segwit, you know that it is an extremely controversial subject. The original developers foresaw the potential need for Segwit integration and did not wait. It is built right into the codebase and ready to be activated with the flip of a switch.
C# Programming Language
One of the biggest hurdles of programming for Ethereum is the relatively new and complex coding language required to learn to develop for it, Solidity. Stratis is wrote in the highly trusted and well known C# programming langauge.
Companies do not have the resources to teach their in-house developers a completely new exotic coding language when almost everybody in the software development field already knows C# better than the back of their hand.
Proof-of-Stake
Without question, the easiest way to get more coins is to “stake” your coins. As it sits now, the only way to mine Bitcoin is to buy increasingly expensive dedicated mining hardware. Mining Ethereum isn’t any easier as it required expensive GPU cards that are in high demand, causing the prices to soar. Ethereum is expected to implement proof-of-stake sometime near the end of 2017 and most experts agree that will cause the price of ether to rise.
Stratis already is proof-of-stake right now!
You simply hold your Strat coins into your software wallet and you will be rewarded by more Strat as you stake your existing coins.
What Does The Future Of Stratis Look Like?
I obviously do not know what the future holds but what I do know is that when you combine all of the features that I briefly touched on, you are looking at a blockchain platform that is 2nd to none.
If I had one word to describe Stratis, I would say future-proof.
Bitcoin was developed in a different time that did not foresee the current day uses of cryptocurrency. Ethereum was built with many limitations in its codebase. Stratis has learned from the mistakes of Bitcoin and Ethereum and has polished all the rough edges.
I know many will ask how many Stratis I own and what I think the future price will be. I purchased 82 Stratis around the $8.50 mark and I will continue to buy as many as I can, permitting my paycheck and Coinbase allows.
While I shouldn’t speculate, if you base any price predictions on the current run of Ethereum, I find it hard to come up with a scenario where the price doesn’t reach at least $25 to $50 USD by the end of 2017. I can’t even begin to think what 2018 holds.
As more and more people and companies open their eyes to Stratis, you will see the future looks very bright.