I believe 2020 will be the year where cryptocurrency is going to hit the consciousness of the mainstream. That does not mean we will hit mainstream adoption but it is something that people are going to know about.
Bear in mind, I do not believe that everyone is suddenly going to run out and buy Bitcoin. Nor are they suddenly all going to join a decentralized platform that starts rewarding them for activities.
Instead, it is a few projects that are going to really push the concept into the forefront of the minds of many. Now, many will not call some of these cryptocurrencies and I would agree. However, the masses will not see it that was since that is how it will be presented.
We know there are a number of countries that are not happy about the United States having so much control over the global financial system. For this reason, countries like China, Russia, and North Korea all mentioned forming another currency. It is going to be digital providing users with "Internet money".
China already announced they are bringing one out. It appears that the move by Facebook in announcing the Libra forced their hand a bit. The Chinese saw exactly what was coming. Thus, they stepped up what was already in the works and will release their digital counterpart to the Yuam in 2020.
At the same time, we already saw Venezuela and Iran use cryptocurrency as a means of getting around sanctions by the United States and the rest of the international community. This enables them to mitigate the impact of said sanctions on their economies.
Speaking of Facebook, in spite of some challenges across the world, it is likely we see the Libra released in 2020. This might not be a global roll out as the currency is facing resistance in many major countries. The EU has already come out and said it is not allowed.
That will not stop it from entering the marketplace. There are plenty of countries where it will start that are second and third world. This will allow it to start the ball rolling in terms of getting users of the token.
So what does this all mean?
To start, it is a major kick in the hind end for the traditional banking system which, by the way, is starting to adopt blockchain. Alternative currencies enable transactions to bypass the banking cartel. While I do not believe it will be a majority shift or anything like that, it will be enough to impact some of their numbers. We saw what happened to retail when only 10% of the sales shifted to online.
Believe it or not, I feel that SMTs are going to help expose a lot of people to cryptocurrency. The market appears right for them with media sites starting to dip their toe into the industry. It is only a matter of time before one creates a token of its own.
This will begin the learning process of what it is all about. 2019 already saw great success by the Brave browser and people receiving rewards for advertisements. My sense is most of the users are crypto people so it did not add a lot in terms of newer people. This will end since I feel it is an easy onramp.
SMTs are also going to provide a simply and quick way for people to get involved. Essentially, they are not going to have to change their behavior since the websites they are using will incorporate the technology. Thus, crypto will be brought to them.
A few decent or well known websites could really get things kicked off in a big way.
This leaves us with the rest of the industry. What does this mean for the applications and projects that are bring developed?
Here I foresee a continued expansion. This might not experience the explosion everyone is looking for but growth will continue. Remember, the growth we witnessed over the last few years would put most industries over the moon.
The entire process is going to be a blow to the traditional gatekeepers. All of this is going to eat away at their power. The United States government is not going to take lightly to losing their complete control over international finance. However, that is exactly what is happening.
Decentralized applications have the ability to start chipping away at the influence of their centralized counterparts. It is hard to compete with some of the benefits offered by the decentralized alternatives. Of course, to reach a point of mass acceptance, a lot of problems need to be overcome.
The efforts from the last couple years are starting to pay off. We are seeing a growing industry that will continue to do so. The pace of change is great although not evident in token prices.
2020 could well be the year the masses become aware of cryptocurrency.
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