Dear Steemit Friends,
Like most of you, I am a huge supporter of Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, and the underlying blockchain technology that supports the whole ecosystem. In my 5 years time of dabbling with Cryptocurrencies, I have made good investments and bad investments, I have been scammed, and I have come across a lot of criticism claiming that it is just a bubble an investment where I will just end up losing all of my hard earned money.
I am sure that most of us have faced that same skepticism - those who started earlier than myself more than others, but I also feel that the perception is slowly changing. Five years ago when I first started with virtual currencies, not many people had heard about it. There were a few news articles posted talking about the new technology, but nothing really significant to make any waves, until the one day when the news made a big fuss about a pizza boy who was paid in Bitcoin which ended up growing to a value of $1000+ USD. I admit I had created an MT Gox account, but that was the extent of my involvement in virtual currencies.
It wasn't until late 2013 and early 2014 when I started to seriously get involved in Bitcoin by buying my first ASIC from eBay - an S1 Antminer. With that, news of Bitcoin had started to grow and opponents of the digital currency started to chime in. Even close relatives and my girlfriend (now wife) felt that Bitcoin and investments in digital currencies were just a big scam and not worth looking into.
Flash forward 5 years to today and you will see a much more different story. Bitcoin, Virtual Currencies, and Blockchain technologies have time-over-time again weathered the storm under unending streams of skepticism. Most if not all news outlets report on it on a daily basis and most institutions have resources assigned to manage and understand Virtual Currencies.
The value of currencies have risen past expectations that anyone could have expected in the time that they have existed and continues to make advancements in incorporating itself into mainstream society on a daily basis. It may not have become a mainstream payment and financial solution like most people have expected, but it has become a mainstream topic of discussion and consideration for future integration in all aspects of life.
Referring to the topic at hand, my wife has now even accepted the fact that Virtual currencies have played an important role in our lives. It has become a part of our daily life and a part of our financial considerations. Relatives who have constantly said that Bitcoin will lose its value, cryptocurrencies will end, and blockchain is just a fad, have come to believe, or at least stop doubting that the technology is real and can be used in real-world transactions. They have been proven wrong time-and-time again that any bearish sell-off is not the end of virtual currencies, but just a wave of trading that will probably start another wave of buying activity and that Cryptocurrencies will not go away so easily.
More global and established publications and public officials have begun to realize and change their tone that Bitcoin is relative and that it is a disruptive technology that has an impact to real life even though it does only exist in the digital world. Wall Street, Banks, and other institutions are being forced to realize that blockchain technology is the future and that they can either adapt and take it seriously, or be left out as everyone advances forward. Even opponent's like Jamie Dimon, who called Bitcoin a fraud, has shown that he regrets his statement and although still does not fully believe in Bitcoin itself, believes that
blockchain, or distributed-ledger technology behind cryptocurrencies, is “real.” According to Fox Business
Even the most cynical authors of some well-noted publications have begun to realize that they may have been wrong about Bitcoin and for fear of missing out (FOMO) have begun to invest some into the cryptocurrency.
Whether you are a supporter or not, Virtual currencies and Blockchain technology are here to stay. They may evolve over time, but they are the future. As a personal opinion, I already consider it mainstream since we talk about it and utilize it on a daily basis. It is a part of my life as it is of most people who read this post and the number of supporters will only continue to grow.
I hope you agree. Thank You again for Reading and your continued support. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions, inputs, or feedback, please feel free to let me know in the comments below. I would also appreciate your continued support in the form of an Upvote, Follow, and/or Resteem if you feel this post was interesting. I'm excited to see where we go from here!
