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Crypto markets continue to grow despite Covid-19 and governments trying to destroy them but how?
Cryptocurrencies were seen as magic internet money for a great period of time. In fact, this attitude toward crypto has been in place for a longer period than the attitude that they’re lucrative investment vehicles. Born out of chaos and disdain for the heavily manipulated financial world, Bitcoin and distributed ledger technology (DLT) is seeking to change the way the cogs turn in the financial world.
But how are crypto markets managing to persistently outperform the global financial markets, despite a global pandemic? Millions of people were furloughed, millions made redundant and millions of people dead. How is this landscape perfect for an emerging financial system destined to revolutionize the world? Is now the best time to join the blockchain movement, and what are the best practices for it if you are part of a crypto project?
It’s simple, really. Evolution and adaptation.
Perhaps it’s best to compare cryptocurrencies, DLT and blockchain to the history of planet Earth. You see, there are countless parallels between the two, and in the grand scheme of things, the evolution of the financial world is virtually the same.
The Paleozoic period
In the history of the Earth, the Paleozoic period was when land plants, mosses and liverworts began to appear on Earth. This was 252 million years ago at the closest part. During this time, life on Earth was still mostly tiny insects. If we compare this to the Bitcoin lifecycle, this was its launch in 2008. There were incredibly few users, and nobody took it seriously. Nothing could survive in the crypto world, and adoption was virtually zero. Many that stumbled across Bitcoin during this period branded it as junk and useless, which in all fairness, it was at the time.
Just like those plants from 252 million years ago refused to give up and die, Bitcoin continued to grow and defy all odds. It took until July 2010 for Bitcoin to be given some form of dollar value, where it traded between $0.0008 and $0.08 per coin. Once this happened, it sparked the next phase of its life the Mesozoic period.
The Mesozoic period
The Mesozoic period takes us from 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago. This is where those insects and plants from before evolved and grew into entire ecosystems and multiple species, giving Earth some of the most dangerous and ferocious predators that it has seen to date. The same thing happened to Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency world between 2010 and early 2017.
This is the period where we saw developers from all around the world take the Bitcoin code and technology to create their own cryptocurrencies. Countless cryptocurrencies were born, and Bitcoin continued to gain momentum and grow its user base as well as its global adoption. This was still a relatively small amount compared to where it is today, but these slowly laid foundations are the reason that Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency world is where it is today.
During this era, we saw second-generation blockchains start to become an idea, meaning that blockchain was about to get more use cases, and faster. Until now, waiting 10 minutes for a transaction to get processed was incredibly fast. But as more and more users began making Bitcoin transactions, this time got slower and slower.
Bitcoin was prolifically used on the dark web as the currency of choice to buy drugs, guns, human organs, pay for murders and much more. This is where Bitcoin’s name began to get muddied and associated with criminals but much in the same way that the Tyrannosaurus rex got a bad rep for being a ferocious murderer.
The reality is that both were apex predators doing what they were designed to do perfectly. In the case of Bitcoin, it was to act as a currency used for making payments with no restrictions or boundaries of governing bodies to say what you can or cannot spend your money on. For the T-Rex, it was the ability to hunt and eat anything it desired. Two well-oiled machines doing their job perfectly.
Thanks to this perfect design, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies became infamous, rising in value from $0.08 to just over $1,000. Along the way, Bitcoin became the talk of the town, feared by the banks and continuously targeted by the traditional financial system. A massive campaign of misinformation was launched against cryptocurrency, designed to drive fear into the hearts of mere mortals who were not part of the upper echelons.
But they did not need this in order to remain in control, as during this period, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were not user-friendly meaning there was a huge barrier to entry. Instead, these campaigns designed to smite Bitcoin and its fledgling competitors only created more awareness of the burgeoning industry and helped with its adoption. People could smell the fear and were drawn to it, knowing that if these large institutions are scared, then it must be good.
As a result, toward the latter stages of the Mesozoic period, there were dozens of cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto wallets popping up. These became simpler to use and safer, giving the entire human race a quick, easy and safe way to get their hands on this magical internet money that the banks fear and has already made so many people wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. This evolution laid the foundations for what was arguably the biggest event in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency’s life much in the way that the Chicxulub meteor laid the foundations for the future of planet Earth.
The Cenozoic period
Then we arrive at the Cenozoic period. During this period of Earth’s life, apes began to emerge, and we saw humans evolve. Every human civilization, from the cavemen, to us right now in the 21st century is here. This period only spans 66 million years but sees more evolution and changes than the previous 4.5 billion years. The same is true with the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain.
More has happened in the four years since 2017 than in the rest of the history of the industry. We’ve seen second-generation blockchains go from ideas to fully functioning networks. We’ve also seen third-generation blockchains launch and go live. All of this is built on the rich foundation and slow evolution that Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency world has gone through.
But what has any of this got to do with the global pandemic and the fact that cryptocurrency use is higher than ever before?
This goes to show that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren’t just a fad. Instead, it’s technology steeped in history, and it’s gone through a colossal evolution, just like the planet has. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are no longer only good for use on the dark web.
Today, these cryptocurrencies have just as much utility as the dollar, pound, yen or euro. Services have evolved that allow us to store our cryptocurrencies in wallets and spend them at any merchant in the world using a debit card. This period of evolution has enabled cryptocurrencies to merge with the existing financial networks, improving them at every twist and turn.
Crypto being put to full use
The fact that you can now send money anywhere on the globe in a matter of seconds for a fee that’s a fraction of a cent is incredible. Before blockchain, this would take days and cost you a small fortune. The world of DeFi is here, and it’s allowing people to take out loans that they can afford with the click of a button. No longer do you have to apply and wait six months only to get rejected because the bank thinks you’re too risky. Financial freedom is here and it’s all thanks to Bitcoin.
Virtually all of the biggest and best companies in each industry are now all using cryptocurrency and blockchain in some part of their business model. Whether it’s Telsa storing $1.5 billion of its balance sheet in Bitcoin to hedge against inflation in the USA, Bank of America using blockchain technology to power cross-border payments and settlements or El Salvador making Bitcoin its national currency, this is all incredible progress that shows Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are here to stay.
Cryptocurrencies have more purpose and utility than ever before, so it’s not shocking in the slightest that this burgeoning industry is still growing. In fact, the global pandemic has actually been beneficial for Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain and DLT. It has given people more time to learn and get educated on the subject of this emerging technology and its potential. We’ve also seen governments and private companies turn to blockchain technology to power vaccine certificate authentication. All of this is unprecedented.
The new norm courtesy of blockchain
As a result, this raised awareness and use for cryptocurrency increases the demand for it. Anyone that studied high school economics can tell you that increased demand means reduced supply, which leads to an increase in price. So, the fact that we’re now entering the longest bull run in cryptocurrency history is not surprising in the least. It also stands to reason that this is the new norm, and these price levels could be called ‘bearish.’ The more and more that companies integrate with cryptocurrency, the higher the prices are going to go.
And sure, crypto markets are still constantly abused by those with the largest bags. But this also applies to the traditional financial world. There will always be pump and dump groups looking to artificially inflate the price of a currency to boost their profits. Just look at how JP Morgan got caught doing this with precious metals. If these schemes are to truly be abolished from society, blockchain is our best chance at making it happen. The big cryptocurrencies that power the most popular and most useful blockchains will remain relatively impervious from these groups. But the smaller altcoins that have very little utility and purpose will become a hive for this activity.
As the education about cryptocurrency increases, fewer people will retain the herd mentality when it comes to investing. This will then reduce the negative impact that these pump and dump groups have over the wider user base of crypto.
This is without a doubt the best time for companies and services to begin their move into the crypto world. It’s easy enough to take a traditional business and incorporate cryptocurrency and blockchain, as well as gaining new customers from the crypto niche. There are specialist crypto ad networks designed to help you with reaching this new customer base, and they arguably deliver better results than traditional ad networks.
The global pandemic hits
Covid-19 swept the globe, forever changing the world as we know it. Brick and mortar businesses suffered the most from this, with online behemoths quickly adapting and thriving. Governments mandate when we can venture outside, control our freedom and restrict our human rights, all in the name of ‘doing our part.’ But the reality is that these measures designed to keep us safe have actually made the general population resent the institution more than ever before.
As a result, demand for freedom is at an all-time high. Politicians are continuously destroying their countries, running up more debt than is humanly imaginable, embezzling trillions worth of taxpayer money and killing anyone that gets in their way. People are fed up with suffering and staring down the barrel of inflation that will cripple their personal finances beyond repair. The solution? A new financial system.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency finally give people control of their own money. Whether you want to spend it on a car, at a casino, on drugs or save it, that choice is finally yours. In fact, during the pandemic, Bitcoin casinos have seen player numbers increase at a faster rate than ever before. Why? Governments are making it harder and harder for people to enjoy fiat-based casinos by imposing strict controls and regulations. You can argue that these measures are in place to prevent addiction, but at the end of the day it’s taking away your choice and right. Cryptocurrency allows you to take back that control and do what you please.
As businesses suffer from this outflow of money from traditional services to cryptocurrency-based services, stock markets continue to take a battering. In a bid to prevent getting swept up in that impending chaos, more and more investors are pulling funds and reallocating them to assets from the blockchain and cryptocurrency world. Not only are investors favoring crypto over forex but they’re also betting big on firms using blockchain technology.
Bitcoin and the crypto space have already fended off the worst that the traditional finance world can throw at it, adapting and evolving in the process. This proves that crypto has what it takes to adapt to a world with Covid-19 measures in place and continue to thrive. It’s a fast-paced and adaptive industry that can take on anything the world throws at it.
The future for cryptocurrency
This global pandemic has legitimized cryptocurrency as a real industry not just as magic internet money that criminals use on the dark web. You can pay for your coffee using crypto. You can pay your taxes with crypto. Cryptocurrency is the future, and as it continues to evolve, we’re going to see its adoption skyrocket. Right now we’re at the tip of the iceberg. The future of blockchain and cryptocurrency is going to be incredible. It’s going to change everything. Businesses that continue to fight it and resist will end up vanishing, while those that adapt will thrive in this new phase of human existence.
Cryptocurrency is getting to the point where it’s poised to take over as the reserve currency for the world, but which currency will claim the throne is yet to be seen. It’s likely that we’ll see a new government-backed cryptocurrency emerge and fill this role. Blockchains like Ethereum, Solana and Binance Smart Chain are powering this current phase of evolution, and it’s exciting to see where this will lead us. Soon we’ll see fourth-generation blockchains that are faster, cheaper, more eco-friendly and can do so much more than we can currently imagine to be possible.
The only question is will you be adapting to this new way of life or fighting it?
Gary Blaisdell is one of the most interesting personalities in the current journalistic field. Most of his works, you can see in various journals and newspapers like The Times and others. He has created several blogs and cooperated with one of the most significant publishing houses.
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