There is no denying that cryptocurrency is complicated. We cannot get around the fact that, at this point, ease of use is not our strongsuit. Many are working on ways to change that but, in the near term, it remains a rather technical industry.
The Internet in the early days was also rather complicated. Early users will tell you what they went through to try and interact. Networks were separated providing little interaction. I recall reading one guy mentioning how switching "websites" meant physically going to another computer which was on a different network.
Even after the advent of the web browser, the masses were still not coming. Data on the Internet was just tossed out there. To find something meant going through dozens of files and, even then, there was no guarantee of finding what you were seeking. Anyone who used the Usenet can identify with this.
We see something similar with cryptocurrency. It is basically a mess right now with a host of different blockchains operating on their own. There is little interoperability between the chains. Applications are centered on one chain which requires users to be familiar with that platform. Trying to determine what tokens have value and, more importantly, what to do with them, is near impossible.
So what is going to "clean" things up for the masses?
Over the last couple months, we saw an explosion of opportunities popping up regarding decentralized finance. Many start ups are now offering services similar to what people are accustomed to. For a long time, people asked why should I get into cryptocurrency? Ultimately, the biggest reason was speculation.
Buy a token and hope it mooned.
That is all changing. We are now seeing projects that provide a return for the use of one's tokens. This is a model that people can follow. Often, for a technology to gain traction, it first needs to be implemented in a manner people can understand.
Google brought information to anyone with a click on a button. It was able to harness the power of computing to provide data in an instant. This was revolutionary at the time since Google worked hard to make sure its algorithms kept advancing at a better pace.
DeFi has the opportunity to do something similar. It can bring the tools to people to instantly be involved in the global financial system. Most are presently excluded from basic banking services let alone opportunities to investment.
We are moving toward the point where anyone can essentially set up their own bank. People will be able to do this in any part of the world as long as there is an Internet connection.
At the moment, this all is in a very early stage. We will see rapid advancement over the next few years. As more people earn tokens and wallet accounts grow, people are going to be looking for a place to put those funds. Instead of sitting idly by, we can see the opportunity for long term growth.
Here we see what the masses understand. Everyone is trying to hit the grand slam by buying the one token that will moon in a month or two. However, the majority of investment wealth is acquired by achieving consistent returns over long periods of time.
Decentralized exchanges could go a long way in aiding this effort. Here is where I believe we will see the innovation taking place. It is also the venue that enables all to avoid the long arm of the law. As more products find their way onto these services, the ability to restrict people is decreased. Governments and regulators hate this but it is good for humanity.
In fact, crypto's best known Wild Man, John McAfee, just announced that he is opening up the McAfee DEX which is an exchange built on Ethereum offering total privacy and no restrictions. This is an obvious slap in the face to regulators and governments yet it does foretell where things are going.
https://news.bitcoin.com/mcafee-to-launch-decentralized-token-exchange-with-no-restrictions/
While he is over the top and keen on drawing attention to himself, there are thousands of projects that are flying under the radar right now. We are seeing development take place across many different aspects of the financial world in an effort to decentralize them. Steem-Engine, is one such project that has great potential. The opportunity to innovate offering advanced use cases for cryptocurrency via the smart contract technology is unlimited.
This is the level where I believe we will see a major leap forward in adoption. Once people have the basic tools which are simple to use, then adoption rates will increase.
Google and Amazon became two of the biggest companies in the world by utilizing two major "laws" in computing. The first was Moore's Law which deals with the pace of computer processing in terms of its cost. This provided the world with a large drop in the cost of computing over the past few decades.
The second one is Metcalfe;s Law which deals with network effects. This is a way of determining the value of a communication network as more nodes a turned on. While originally used in the world of telecommunications, it was since applied to social media and other Internet based systems, only to reveal that same applicability.
Essentially, the Internet exploded simply because it took the network effect and put it on steroids by joining different networks together.
Hence, it is easy to see why outfits like the major Internet companies were able to see such fantastic growth. The decreasing price of computing allowed the network effect to moon. This will only continue as another 3B people are connected over the next decade. Even more importantly, it is estimated there will be 1T devices online by 2025. In an age of AI and automation, these are going to be "living" organisms online.
We already see automated trading bots that are available to anyone using cryptocurrency. As the development of DeFi progresses, we can expect more tools for automated investing and money management to be presented. Once again, this is appealing to the masses.
There is no turning back on this. People think these ideas are up for debate but I fail to see that. Cryptocurrency is not going away. In fact, it is only going to increase in adoption each year that goes by. There is no escaping it.
A number of people are working on systems that will provide individuals with control (ownership) over their data. If data is truly the "new oil", this is a lot of wealth that is going to be placed in the hands of people. Do you really think they are going to turn it down? Of course not.
And how are these people going to be compensated when they allow someone to use their data? I am willing to bet the payment will not be in USD.
Cryptocurrency is a technology that has a financial component. Since money is one of the most emotional aspects of our lives, it is going to garner a lot of attention. That said, what is going to create the paradigm shift is the technological innovation that emerges over the next couple years. Just like with the Internet, once the foundation is laid, things will take off.
Decentralized finance offers the opportunity for the masses to get involved in something they understand (once simplified). This will provide a big step in the adoption rate. With how things are going with the present system and negative interest rates being the norm, cryptocurrency is going to offer returns that look amazing in comparison.
Who would think that a 5% return would get people drooling?
Until we arrive at a "post monetary world", this is going to be an important subject. The present economic system does not work for the majority, hence it is up to us to change it.
This is what is beginning to take place right now. Over time, we will be able to move on to more advanced stages.
Each step is another dagger in the existing system. It will not happen over night yet it will be fairly quick.
The world is ready.
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