I just posted my annual top 5 technology trends post on my personal blog. One of my key trends was the crypto crash of 2019 and the stalling of blockchain innovation. As you all know, it’s been stormy weather these past few months.
What I wrote sums up my feelings about cryptocurrencies and blockchain as 2018 draws to a close. Frankly, I’m disillusioned. But as I note in the last paragraph, I am still hopeful – if the crypto community ever shows it is interested in products over price. Here’s what I wrote on ricmac.org:
In January I started a new blog, called Blocksplain. My goal was to profile new blockchain and cryptocurrency startups, and explain how they fit into the emerging blockchain ecosystem.
Despite the promise I saw (1, 2, 3), the crypto ecosystem failed to emerge during 2018. It remains difficult to use cryptocurrencies, regulation has been messy, and decentralized apps (Dapps) have for the most part been a dud – except perhaps for Cryptokitties(!). In addition, my blog Blocksplain struggled to gain traction because, as it turned out, crypto fans weren’t interested in blockchain products. They were only interested in price and market speculation.
However by the end of 2018, coin prices had turned to custard too. Bitcoin was over $17,000 in January, only to fall back to less than $3,500 in December. Ethereum’s fall was even worse: over $1,300 in January, less than $100 now. Let’s not even mention the altcoins.
Is there any hope left in crypto and blockchain? Perhaps the technology will yet prove useful, but the crypto community has a lot of work to do before that happens – not the least in re-focusing on product, rather than price.
Is there any hope left in crypto and blockchain? Definitely! It’s still early days as far as the technology goes (dare I compare blockchain to the advent of the internet like everyone else?) and from attending Blockworks, it seems that more and more interest is being shown by business owners/startups looking for the most cost-effective, reliable tracking and data storage solutions.
The fact that we have the likes of New Zealand Post working with Alibaba and Fonterra to use blockchain for tracking is enormous too! Then we have Sylo and Trackback looking to reduce counterfeit “New Zealand” products being sold primarily in China. Also, we have Origins looking to provide farm to purchase proof of ethically produced cotton garments. And of these are just the examples from home; plenty of other products are in development overseas too.
I wholeheartedly agree with you in that the crypto community should focus on the products coming out of blockchain developments as opposed to purely on market speculation and price. Let’s see what 2019 brings us!