Full disclosure: I am not a financial advisor nor do I even really know that much about finance. I am not trying to "shill" any coin. This is just a viewpoint of the current cryptospace from an average guy based on average guy logic.
People invest in cryptocurrency for different reasons. Some for the belief in blockchain technology, some for the decentralization of finance, and some are just sick of watching their money sit in their savings account making pennies every month and want to make some real cash. Regardless of your reasons, I don't think anyone can honestly say that they are uninterested in getting rich off of crypto or just making high returns at the very least.
It has become pretty apparent that Bitcoin and Ethereum are most likely good investments and will probably do well at holding their value in the long term. But, is it too late to actually get "rich" by investing in them today? Even if Bitcoin hits the fabled $100,000 and Ethereum hits $10,000, that is about a 2 and 3x return on investment from where they stand today. Also, putting BTC at roughly a 2 trillion dollar market cap with ETH hitting close to 1.5 trillion. To give some perspective on this, Amazon (the largest internet company in the world) currently sits at about a 1.75 trillion dollar market cap.
Now, don't get me wrong, those are some fantastic returns. You would be lucky to get that in 10 years investing in the stock market. Also, given that BTC and ETH have established themselves as being here to stay by surviving every past crypto crash of the past few years and remaining on top, I think it's pretty safe to say that they are in fact good investments. But, me as well as many others are still haunted by the legendary stories of the people who bought $100 of Bitcoin in 2009 who are millionaires today. However given the concept of market caps, how much money exists in the world, and rapidly increasing crypto adoption, I can't help but think those type of gains just aren't possible anymore for the big coins. While investing, it is always important to remember: for the price to double, the market cap has to double.
Now, think about this, even BTC and ETH once had small market caps along with the other top 10 projects today. Bitcoin and Ethereum are not the only crypto currencies that have made people life changing amounts of gains. This is why I think it is important to consider that a little research could potentially lead you to the next crypto that will enter the top ten and investing it it, could be life changing.
It is important to discuss the common argument against this theory. It is a fact that many coins did break into the top 10 in the past that have lost most of their value now wish no sign of recovery. A prime example of this is EOS. EOS hit highs of close to $20 dollars in the 2018 bull run and since then has gotten nowhere close to that. Although I think EOS is still a good project overall, I think it could possibly be outclassed in the present by some of the newer projects with similar goals. This is the reason that many crypto veterans give the advice of always taking all of your altcoin profits and rolling them into BTC or ETH. This did in fact prove to be good advice in 2018, but my question is, have times changed?
Many think the answer is 'no' but I tend to disagree. Back in 2018 you never heard of massive companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy actually adding large amounts of crypto currency to their balance sheet. There is even talk now of institutional buying of coins out of the top two such as, Solana and Polkadot. The oldest investment advice in the book is: "follow the money" and the money is definitely flowing into crypto.
This is what leads me to believe that times have in fact changed. The world is discovering the vast amount of use cases for blockchain technology and it does not show any signs of slowing down. Given this rapidly evolving climate, I think the notion that BTC and ETH can continue to retain complete market dominance is narrow-minded thinking and the theory that history will repeat itself and the "bull run" will play out just as is did in 2018 ending in a complete crypto winter just isn't probable anymore. There is plenty of room for new projects to become major players in the cryptospace and I am always on the lookout for them.
Finally, something that my questioning and searching led me to: Nervos Network (CKB) is an open-source public blockchain ecosystem and collection of protocols creating the foundation for a universal internet-like public network. This project seems to have great plans for a "universal passport" concept and the technology behind it seems incredible. The base of CKB is a Layer 1, Proof of Work and Store of Value blockchain but with Layer 2 scaling and smart contract capabilities. I don't want to get into the weeds too much because I always encourage others to do their own research but with these kind of concepts in the works and at the coin sitting at less than a half-billion dollar market cap, the sky is the limit for the potential of CKB. I will leave the link to their website below.
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I can not stress enough that I am not telling people what to do with their money nor do I think that yoloing all of your savings into random altcoins is a surefire way to make you rich. I just think that with the rapid expansion of blockchain technology combined with the rapid adoption, Bitcoin and Ethereum can't do it all forever. Everything that is now big was once small and great rewards could await for those who have the ability to see the potential in the small things.
Thank you all for reading if you got this far, your support means the world to me. Feel free to leave some feedback in the comment section and I hope you all enjoyed another instalment of this average guy's perspective on the world of cryptocurrency.
As always, have a good one,
Crypto Creech
