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So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything about Cryptocurrency.
Cryptos you might remember, made global headlines for creating a whopper of a bubble a couple of years ago.
Suffice to say, not much has been heard from since.
I thought it’d be prudent to do a quick update on what’s going on in the world of Cryptos.
Legitimacy
As I’ve remarked before, the power behind Cryptocurrency, being the Blockchain, has always been the game changer.
The premise being that transactions can be verified by anyone and everyone around the World.
So it’s no surprise that in recent months established names such as Facebook came out with their own Crypto – LibraCoin (read my thoughts here).
And now we see Apple wanting to enter the game as well…(link here).
With more and more big names entering this space, we’ll see a period of credibility start to form around Cryptocurrency – which can only be a good thing.
Adding Value
During the heyday of 2018, we’ve heard of some crazy stories – stories such as Dogecoin, a “joke” cryptocurrency exploding in value, the countless Altcoins listing every day, or even how the website coinmarketcap.com became one of the most viewed websites globally.
But through all the BS, there are some coins which add actual value – such as Ripple, who were already working with Western Union to improve cross-border transactions; or KrisPay who are working with Singapore Airlines to turn air-miles into cryptocurrency to work with merchant partners…
I think these coins are the ones who have the best chance of rising through all the rubble in the long run, and lasting the distance.
Scams, Frauds and Naughty Stuff
Unfortunately most of us will think of Cryptocurrency as inherently the Wild, Wild West. This is because more often than not, it is the bad and the ugly which make the headlines.
Recent scandals include a South Korean Crypto Ponzi scheme, a Indian Crypto fraud scam, underworld activity in Eastern Europe and of course, a Canadian Crypto platform founder passing away with the only password to access over USD 190m worth of coins.
These are the type of news that will continue to plague the industry for the forseeable future – as long as people want to make a quick buck, they’ll be others willing to take advantage of that.
Personally…
Many readers will remember that I too, was caught up in the hype back in early 2018.
I “invested” about AUD 3,000 into, what I thought, a “sure thing”.
The value of that 3k is probably down about 80%… which is about par with the rest of the market.
But it’s the investment in one of the Altcoins which typifies the experience of Cryptocurrency investing.
I put about 2k into a new-age digital exchange platform which was supposed to “revolutionize the industry”.
Suffice to say that no revolution has occurred.
In fact, the dedicated Telegram group (chat program kinda like Whatsapp but encrypted) I’m in, is full of squabbles and bickering and “he said, she said” between the group’s investors and the Crypto’s employees.
It’s also withered down from a high of over 7,000 members at its peak, to just over 1,000.
At the moment, some of the investors accuse the group’s founders of selling down their last remaining stake and all sorts of names are being thrown – scam, fraudsters, ponzi scheme, criminals… ugly stuff.
Really sad to see to be honest.
Oh well, you win some you lose some right! All in the name of learning.
Hey, at least I’m a bit better than some of these guys in the group:
(All messages during the Cryptoboom Jan 2018)
“Yep, I’ve dumped everything in here, 60k baby, go go go”
“HODL for $500k at this rate”
“all aboard the MOON ROCKET, no time for FUDers”
Oh Ba Dear…
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