The Economist, the well-known magazine in the world, raised a question about the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and its answer to this question is YES, they are useless, for the token and the market had already changed into “a focus for speculation” and “an overcomplicated casino.”
If you take a look at the data shows about the performance of the whole crypto and blockchain industry, you will sense the scale of why experts view the industry as over-hyped and a casino:
Tokens and the market: we are in the bubble
The whole market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market once shrank nearly 59% in May to September, down from the highest level of $466b to the lowest level of $191b. The Bitcoin price according to Bitcoin price history, decreased, from $9800 in May to the average,$7000, since September. For BCH price, it shows a stunning 88-percent decrease.
The marketcap of cryptocurrency market from May to September,2018 (from https://citicoins.com/global-chart)
Moreover, nearly 1600 projects introduced in the cryptocurrency failed, and tokens launched in the name of ICO all become worthless; punters and stock exchanges made profits through speculations and individual investors suffered.
Blockchain: we have no active use cases
As for blockchain, the promising underlying technology, which the Economist once viewed as a way to change the accounting system and the world is in depression too. With most of the ICO projects defined as scam, which used ICO to commit financial fraud, People’s confidence in blockchain-related projects decreased, and they cut back on the investment and drew down the money.
In result, blockchain companies which dedicate to build practical business application suffer financial stress. Then, according to the Deloitte's 2018 blockchain, investors and companies confessed that there is no an actual blockchain use case they can use to advance their beliefs.
For the token and the technology are barely used for its intended purpose but a tool to earn fast money through speculation and illegal fundraising, the so-called promising new technology now becomes useless.
Therefore, the market has some hard decision to make. Crypto bubbles need to be deflated and the cryptocurrency itself should returns as a medium of exchange, instead of a speculative product. The government could do their bits too, by introducing regulation to cool the market and crack down on fraud, by investing more in blockchain related use cases discovery and development.
Is Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies and its underlying technology are useless?
We will know the answer when the cryptocurrency returns as a currency and the first practical blockchain application come out.