Thoughts and Opinions: When Monetary Systems Met Code | The Crypto/Blockchain Future

Awaking to my computer, I reluctantly looked into coindesk.com to see the crypto markets and was shocked to see bitcoin down a few percent in the most recent trading days just hovering above $19,000 at the current day of looking at it. How could that be? I was just observing like so many others the price hitting all-time highs of $20,000 and beyond. This looks similar to the great crypto bull run of late 2017. 2020 was the intro to the 2nd great bull run of our life since the inception of cryptocurrency by the turn of 2010.

I realized that the volatile behavior of this market and the uncertain gains and other times crashes and swings in trading behavior is due to not only the trading volatility but also the growth and opportunity in the asset itself.

Like many Millenials, I grew up in the 1990s when the internet was hailed and also mocked/misunderstood for its ability to transform the world and the business sector with untapped potential leading up to the rise of the dot com era and the capitalization of e-commerce and digital advertising.

In the age of 2020 and Covid-19, we see the rise of many different opportunities from Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IOT), and the digitization of every facet of our lives.

Seems like yesterday we were just putting VHS tapes and DVDs in machines on top of our televisions and the now we are instantly streaming from a once small startup video rental and return business by the name of Netflix which is now valued at over $200 Billion dollars by the end of Q4 2020.

We realize that the need for physical objects and materials are becoming less prevalent in our day to day lives due to the digitization of our environment. Whens the last time you wrote a page worth of material on a paper.

So if physical products such as VHS Tapes and DVDs can become a thing of the past; why wouldn't money be any different?

With 2020 being compared to one of the worst years economically since the housing crash of 2008 and the great depression of the late 1920s that spanned into the late 1930's, There has been many topics of conversation being heard from near negative interests rates, corporate debt at an all-time high, and the looming possibility of an inflation crisis on the horizon. We are experiencing currency devaluation as overall prices rise but the strength of monetary systems across the world are not keeping up with debt levels that are rising globally.

"Bitcoin is absolutely the Wild West of finance, and thank goodness. It represents a whole legion of adventurers and entrepreneurs, of risk takers, inventors, and problem solvers. It is the frontier. Huge amounts of wealth will be created and destroyed as this new landscape is mapped out." 

-Erik Voorhees

What can we do to truly store our wealth and invest in the future with the uncertainty of everything occurring in our lives?

What if I told you that there was already a revolution starting to take place that involved the expansion of mining networks being rewarded for the continuity of a digital currency and an industry that could be as impactful as the occurrence of the first industrial revolution.

In rolls the conversation of cryptocurrency and blockchain!

Cryptocurrency and blockchain are starting to catch on to retail and institutional investors like never before. This will be one of the greatest opportunities and advancements in our day and age and is on the list as one of the top areas of interest in 2020 and beyond. My belief is that throughout the years of 2020-2040 there will be a global adoption of this technology from all angles of life due to the efficiency and how this will benefit society in all aspects. We are now moving into a moment where we are not just working for technology, Technology is now assisting us with complex tasks and needs that will transform our way of life forever. This will enhance global payments and finance as well as the decentralization of computing and will revolutionize internet security in the adoption of these concepts.

The ability to have a store of value within the internet of money will be crucial as we enter a token based society where cash and physical coins will at some point disappear and all payments, salaries, and exchange will happen in a digital format.

The needs of cryptocurrency are solving many complex issues across the globe in finance and technology. Reducing the need for 3rd party/merchant fees, instant transactions across the world, remittance solutions, solving issues for the large unbanked population of the globe along with many other solutions that this technology assists through its increasing ability for use case across different sectors.

People are waking up and realizing the potential of this technology and how this simple creation of a digital gold will one day not only be a sanctuary and life raft for our economic prosperity but also the start of a new solution for IT Security and transparency for systems moving forward to prosper under blockchain technology.

Blockchain will revolutionize industries such as: protecting healthcare privacy and data, create viable insurance agreements, real estate smart contracts and payment options, global lending opportunities within finance, and government solutions from privacy and security to voting integrity through transparency and secure cryptographic storage of information.

Ethereum's emergence of ER-20 Tokens and the ability to create protocols that allow everyday citizens to invest in Utility tokens such as Basic Attention (BAT) for the adoption of advertisement based payments or even lending protocols such as Compound that allow people to borrow and lend digital assets have allowed diversification of crypto use. These tools within Ethereum are what are allowing developers of the Defi space to create exciting extensions and progress this space of the blockchain community.

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two most known and talked about Cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap and overall impact. There were also many others in 2020 that have caught the interest of the masses such as XRP (Ripple), Stellar Lumens (XLM), ChainLink, and Litecoin.

In our parent's and grandparents' age they stored wealth within gold and silver. For thousands of years, this was the hedge against inflation, and was able to store wealth with a conservative outlook on capital retainment in terms of value.

Millennials and Gen Z are turning to completely different investments than our parents as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are showing higher yields than gold or the S&P 500 due to bitcoin and other cryptos being a non-correlated asset to the equities markets. This is the infancy stage even with this technology being around for a little more than 10 years. Bitcoin enthusiasts are speculating on 100K and even $1 million price evaluations per bitcoin in the future ahead with the ability to divide bitcoins into smaller units called "Satoshi's" allowing 1 coin to be divisible like pennys are to a whole dollar bill.

We are seeing the widespread interest from institutional investors as the hopes and thoughts of how this could revolutionize monetary policy through scarcity and fixed supply such as that of bitcoin's (limit of only 21 million bitcoins) will be of great benefit and the solution to quantitative easing policies that are allowing economies to print the endless amounts of money wreaking havoc on the value of currencies.

In Closing,

Just like the car, the plane, the train, and the internet; everything is misunderstood in the beginning and with time this could be a great advancement in human life and for civilizations across the globe.

There are many resources on Twitter, great forums on Reddit, and developer meet ups across the web that allow interaction on this topic at all times and regions.

Take a look into the whitepapers of these cryptocurrencies and the use cases and benefits and properties of each token as many have different objectives.

Education is what allows us to understand what's misunderstood and to lead with the power of concepts as we progress forward.

It's time you open your computer to the many possibilities about this topic of conversation.

But as of now, I will be closing mine to get some much-needed rest at 3 AM on a Saturday and continue on this path of a progressive and optimistic future that is occurring at the present moment. We are just in the beginning of this great shift in Technology.

There is so much more to explore!

Regards,

Matthew Nickerson