I've been trying to post consistently here on Steem, but when you take just a few days off you lose some momentum and I think momentum is what fuels consistent hard work which typically leads to much better results. So I'm going to try and be more consistent about my posting for the next few weeks and see if I can get in a rhythm. Anyways, I want to talk about this idea of perceived value vs. actual value in cryptocurrency. It's a difficult topic for me to tackle, but I think I'll just give some of my thoughts on the subject, and nothing I say should ever be taken as financial advice these are just my thoughts.
So in cryptocurrency there are literally thousands of different tokens and several different protocols that Dapps or tokens can be built upon. When there are this many different tokens in this space I think it's important to ask questions like how many different people will actually use these tokens. I'm gonna talk about a few different examples here, but the general idea is that there are plenty of projects out there that seem useful or seem necessary but they really aren't or they will never have enough users.
I took an hour earlier today to watch Joe Rogan interviewing Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO of Twitter, and also the CEO of Square a mobile payments company, it's a 2 hour interview, so I didn't hear the whole thing. This interview was interesting to me as he talks about how Twitter was created as a company in order to allow instant communication with the entire world from your mobile phone. Of course, Twitter has become more than this and serves as a source of news, updates, and entertainment as well. This interview really made me think more about the purpose behind several different companies created, including Twitter, and also the impact that blockchain is going to have on people's everyday lives when it becomes more mainstream.
Ok, I'm getting back on topic now. When you think about the use cases of cryptocurrencies it is really astounding, but I know it's easy to get caught up in the hype of the newest crypto on the block. The way I see it so far is that there are a bunch of different cryptocurrencies that are fighting for users right now, and some of these teams are producing really innovative tech but a lot of them aren't thinking about the bigger picture of all of this. The bigger picture in my opinion, that 90% of the current cryptocurrencies will not be used in everyday life and are very likely to never have a large enough number of users to continue to run their companies.
Cryptocurrencies that continue to innovate with the purpose of improving the user experience and having actual needed use cases are still the most likely to survive. I think as technology continues to evolve the speed of everything we do is going to continue to exponentially get faster. I often like to think about how different companies have changed the way that we do everyday activities in our lives. You might get a sense of how old I am because I was actually alive when blockbuster was still in business, lol.
When you think about Blockbuster now it seems absolutely absurd to leave your house to go look for movies to rent when you would save some much time if you never left your couch and turn on Netflix instead. Or think of how Amazon took several different companies out of business including Best Buy (most of the locations), Radioshack, and several different bookstores. Amazon has made the need to go to the store much less necessary. Cryptocurrencies should be viewed through the lens of an innovative technology that somehow enables us to improve our lives. I think the tokens or protocols that are focused on the future are going to have the most success in the long run.
It's difficult to predict what currencies these will be, but different technologies focused on actual solutions to problems we currently face are more likely to succeed if they have strong teams and fundamentals of course. We are going to be entering into a new era where mobile data will probably be a scarce resource as the average person in the U.S. is probably consuming 3 times as much data per month on their phones as they were just a few years ago. Not an actual statistic, but it's my best guess. Other problems we could improve in our lives through crypto include identity theft and enhanced security on our mobile phones. Cryptocurrencies that are focused on protecting our identity online or on our mobile phones are probably likely to have some success as well.
Also, I think that we are not yet where we want to be in terms of enabling cryptocurrency payment methods worldwide, so I think different companies and technologies that focus on enabling easy payment methods for cryptocurrency will likely be successful. There are dozens of more innovative use cases for cryptocurrency, including blockchain gaming which will allow game data to be saved instantly and allow for the trading of in-game assets. There are obviously more use cases of cryptocurrency, but focusing on actual value rather than just investing in a token because it's innovative will probably lead to better returns over time.
In my opinion, it's important to focus on problems we actually face right now in our everday lives instead of trying to create a new cryptocurrency to solve a problem that doesn't necessarily require crypto as a solution. This is the time to innovate and focus on creating, supporting, and investing in different cryptocurrencies that are the most likely to be relevant still even 2-5 years from now. Often a new technology is created that is really useful, but only a small percentage of the population really understand the value of that new technology and therefore there is a delay in the adoption of it. However, innovative technologies with an amazing user experience always come out on top.
