The cryptocurrencies space is wild, young, and free. Extremely tumultuous and unpredictable yet. Still has the greatest promises, some made with great foundations, others creating million-dollar bubbles. Over the last months although I´ve become aware of great concern regarding the space. Like any system, or better, ecosystem; crypto grows as it overcomes evolutionary barriers. This development, as usual, undergoes unseen at first, insidious, and almost geological. Eventually, these movements explode into a crisis and the space has either the strength to overcome them and reach for the next development stage or it disintegrates.
One of these underlying movements I´ve observed and I think it´s become more evident to a larger number of people, is the lack of development the space has seen towards a major adoption of crypto. Of course, there are huge milestones being taken and crypto has become really famous in the last two or three years. The question is, what part of this adoption is sustainable, resilient, and high-quality and what portion is mere greediness, speculation, and short-term delusion.
I think a lot of work, energy, and time are being directed towards inner competition (between projects) and towards deep technological developments. Of course, I think this is great, I think is really healthy for any Darwinian, economical, and technological ecosystem to have these inner dynamics. The problem comes when it´s greater than the energy spent towards massive adoption of the gifts cryptocurrencies present to the world. It´s really good for innovation that all of these smart contract platforms like Cardano, Solana, or Avalanche are trying to rip off Ethereum. But Ethereum´s, Cardano´s or Bitcoin´s greatest challenge is that the consumer base grows and that the systems they offer become a need for people and companies around the world.
We´re seeing growth at a great pace, but we can´t forget that we are at the beginning of a giant innovational change and it´s normal to grow at this speed. If Bitcoin doesn't become a widely used product in the next five years (to put an almost random period of time) it probably will collapse. This would happen in a scenario where the general public doesn´t use Bitcoin and doesn't buy Bitcoin. Price evolution slows and becomes horizontal, next as those who are in the market because of the promise of great ROIs and greediness will eventually stop using it. Because the space prioritized money over adoption and technological superiority over user-friendly development, most crypto users are investors looking for the next gold rush, and the crypto space empties from people and money. The prices start to drop, investment drops and innovation stops; crushing the crypto environment and the dream of decentralized finance once and for all.
How can we be worried about multi-chain bridges, sophisticated smart contracts, or interoperable chains when most people over 40 aren´t using Bitcoin, the oldest and simplest crypto of all. I don´t believe the crypto market is a bubble right now, but it could be if these concerns are left unattended. Bubbles occur whether because the product isn´t worth what´s worth or because there is a failure in communicating and building its value.
The managing of this threat is of course a job for every person implicated and who cares for the space (whether because you want to grow your portfolio or because you are emotionally invested in the space). But it´s especially a job for the leaders and founders of the space, who are the most important condition factors in the development and spread of the ideological and technological ideas behind cryptocurrencies.
Drop any thoughts on the comment section please, I´m eager to know what you guys think.
Good luck out there,
