The failure of crypto communities to shunt their coins from the speculative-currency phase to the transactional-volume phase has been a tragedy
To be fair, it's because crypto in general is:
1. Almost impossible to understand and use for anyone that isn't a techie;
2. Accepted basically nowhere without cumbersome third party intervention;
3. Too volatile to be used as a store of value;
4. Uninsured against theft or loss;
5. Not sufficiently superior to established systems at anything other than a) instantaneous international transfer (not useful in 99.9% of transactions to everyday folk), b) low-fee transfer of huge volumes of wealth (not useful to 99.9% of everyday folk; also see point 3 above).
Right now crypto is a very poorly implemented solution looking for a problem to solve for everyday people. Until that happens (if ever) it will remain a niche speculative interest.
Hi Mochillies. Thank you for listing some very important points. It is quite apparent that our industry has been struggling to gain traction. There are many reasons that have caused such setback. Due to my time constraints, I will generalize my comments rather than trying to be specific. I will be happy to answer any questions, one at a time if asked.
Success in business is often about ones ability to objectively identify problems with the skill-sets to solve those problems. If done correctly, the larger and more complex the problem, the larger the payoff to the party capable of solving those problems. Being complex typically means that many people may attempt to give it a shot but failed due to poor execution of their plans or because they have grossly underestimated the complexities and unforeseeable challenges. Essentially these explain a lot about the current state of affairs of our industry. The number of failed, or failing ventures, are significantly higher than any I have witnessed in my 40+ years as an entrepreneur. Typically, business failure rate is about 30% by the end of the second year. We may be seeing 80% or higher failure in our industry.
However, as I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, it is very important to clearly understand that there are two segments to this technology revolution. On one side, is Bitcoin - the digital currency where it is struggling. On the other side is the Blockchain Technology - that is thriving and will continue to see explosive growth.
Having said that let me briefly response to one of the issues on your list and let others address the rest of them:
1. Almost impossible to understand and use for anyone that isn't a techie;
That is absolutely correct. I have even come across highly educated techie who still has the same problem. We are making every attempt to make things as easy and comfortable as possible as reflected in the launching of DNotesVault. The total solution will take years to fully implement. For example, it is very complicated for someone new to purchase their initial first batch of DNotes. In due time, we will have our own registered and licensed DNotes dedicated exchange wholly owned by us or in partnership with others. Even with that one still needs to make the decision of saving on a regular basis and physically do a few things to make that happened. The long term solution is to get the regulatory blessings where the targeted amount is deduct from payroll and deposited in the DNotesVault account of the saver and the amount is tax deferred, just like any 401K or IRA.
Someone else can continue from here, even if you want to comment on just one or more of the issues listed.