Firstly, let me make sure I am clear: These are my personal thoughts. I am not writing in behalf of anyone else. I am not paid by anyone to write (other than when you vote on my posts, and I am paid by steemit).
Secondly, I am biased. I write software (not steemit posts) for a living. I help maintain BitShares core.
After a weekend of pondering the question, I would like to express why cryptocurrency will continue to grow, and why BitShares is uniquely positioned to help.
Why cryptocurrency will grow:
Our (as in "all of us") economy relies on retail. There are not many economies left where the most common way you get your eggs and milk are by visiting the farm. Yes, you can still do that, but it is not common.
Retail companies rely on exchanging the products they store and display into cash in their accounts. Everyone wants a cut. And when payment processors push for fees that these retail giants deem excessive, they start exploring how to flex their muscle to retain more of what enters their account. This was recently seen by one fairly large US grocer disallowing Visa in some of their stores. This shows the crack in the armor, the canary in the coal mine, and the types of trial balloons that retailers will attempt.
Meanwhile, as the "techie" people move their wares out of the garage and into the marketplace, we will start to sort out the new "Visa" and the struggling "Diners Club". As marketers see the opportunities and and struggle for market share, the acceptance of cryptocurrency will bloom.
"Acceptance" will be in two ways. One way is by accepting a cryptocurrency as payment for merchandise. Another way is mental acceptance by the customer that they trust what is happening when they use funds stored on their smartphone to purchase their Snickers Bar.
This will not be an overnight change, nor will it be without problems. When the "big switch" to cryptocurrencies will happen will only be known in hindsight. When it started will forever be traced back to the Bitcoin whitepaper.
Why BitShares is well positioned and well anchored
Bitshares has an ecosystem. It is not a brand-new technology. It has businesses that have built on top of it. They support it with their development and their transaction fees.
It is focused on the financial side. Many projects garnering attention in the space are focused on flexible contracts and complicated strategies. That is great for many applications of blockchain technology. But for a financial platform, it is worrying. Consumers and businesses want their working capital in a bank, not at a stock exchange or insurance firm.
It is difficult to regulate. This is a plus and a minus. But BitShares gets this part as close to right as it can. The distributed nature of the network makes it difficult to be shut down.
Regulation within the ecosystem is a complicated beast. It will never be perfect. It will always have the majority saying it needs to change, but no one will be able to agree on what it should be changed to. What makes BitShares great is that more than one entity is in control. It functions more like a co-operative and less like a board of directors.
The big win on the regulation side is that it is open-sourced. If some whales come in to vote only for themselves and their cronies, others can rebuild their own ecosystem. If they are more successful, the old will die on the vine.
There are more advantages and disadvantages, and I have more to say on this and similar subjects. But for now, I hope this gives you something to reflect on. I look forward to any comments you have.