The internet back in the 90’s was an amazing time. It was connecting everyone that had a computer (and a modem) to everyone else. We started with BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) where you dial in, left a message, and then disconnected (kind of pre-90s). But when AOL came on the scene, it let all kinds of people from all over the world connect over very very niche topics.
Fast forward to today, which company, or organization, provide that kind on ramp for people with cryptocurrency? There is NONE. Cryptocurrency has no real use for the general public within USA. Outside of USA, Bitcoin specifically is a store of value for countries where their currencies are fluctuating drastically (Venezuela, Turkey), and there are definitely remittance uses (way cheaper to move money than Western Union).
Don’t get me wrong, there are uses for crypto, specifically where organization that created and uses the crypto in some sort of discount (Binance Coin) or some sort of commodities trading platform (Power Ledger), but they are not all consolidated in one location, like how AOL did with its walled garden or how Yahoo did with its lists.
The other major hurdle for cryptocurrencies is its competition with itself. Imagine Jeff Bezos or Larry Page and Sergey Brin creating multiple startups, not simultaneously, but one after another because they didn’t find the right traction. It could have happened, but since start ups are not decentralized networks, they fold when the business is not successful. In crypto, that’s not the case. The networks Dan Larimer created are good examples. He created BitShares, then Steem, and now he’s on EOS. BitShares and Steem should have folded if they are startups (if not Steem, at least definitely BitShares), but they have not. That’s just an obvious example, but there are many hundreds of other blockchains that were created that are now abandoned. Some are recycled (PacCoin) but many are just forks of other coins that add little to no new code. Most of these coins are just cash grabs (Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond, Litecoin Cash). Little to no additional development will take place on these coins because there just isn’t enough developers out there to support them. So instead of having viable businesses, most crypto projects end up failing to deliver on time (converting from ERC20 token to their mainnet, completing milestones, creating mobile apps to support their tokens). Even for projects that deliver on time, the products doesn’t live up to the vision expressed in their white paper (EOS, Eidoo, Ethos).
Bottom Line: Don’t try to measure how far along crypto is by what year of the 90’s we are in compared to the internet age. Measure it by what companies or organizations that are providing an on-ramp not just to own crypto, but to provide a value to the majority of the people on Earth that can’t be had right now with the current internet. I don’t know what that company is yet, but you will be first to know when I find it.