OP, if 2017 was the summer of ICOs, then 2018 was a space filled with hundreds of startups shouting into a void. Here skepticism has run rife and Ethereum notably saw a dramatic price correction, in part driven by startups selling off their ETH holdings in droves due to unsuccessful ICOs. Neither should any of us want an inflated market. By design, ICOs work as a fundraising process and offer little to the retail investor beyond vague hopes of future gains. Cryptocurrencies need a stable value that is linked less to speculation and more to genuine demand. Otherwise, there is no hope of attracting institutional money.
If a bull run is in the offing it could be wise not to get too excited; similarly, crashes should be if not welcomed accepted with equanimity as part of a growing process. We are hopefully moving towards a stage where the old school, so Bitcoin, Ethereum, can offer some level of stability while new altcoins are judged on their tech and credibility.
This offers retail investors an opportunity, but no longer should we entertain the fantasy of recouping our money 1,000 times over. A mature market will see much more of pocket change investments which, if held in the long run, could prove to turn out as profitable ventures.
ICO is dreaming of flying to the proverbial moon. But investment decisions made upon dreams of a crypto gold rush are as good as gambling. If indeed the days of 1,000 times gains are over it is hard to see how this would be a good strategy for retail investors.
Development of blockchain technologies has exploded far beyond the maiden project that is bitcoin. A nascent technology, it
You do not need to be gambling on the big coins as these markets are too vast for retail investors to play in, perhaps with an exception for savvy day traders and long-term hodlers.
It is a lot of work to sort through the crypto noise, though. There are platforms out there trying to deliver something different: notably, the issue of scalability with traditional blockchains may require a different approach. Other solutions have been proposed and young projects are proposing an entirely different design in their networks.
The initial era of hype is gone and, as a consequence, it is more important than ever that retail investors scrutinize projects, encourage debate and support projects. Throwing too much weight behind an altcoin may not be a wise move for most, instead, distribute investments across projects which pique interest.
What will help the crypto markets reach a level of serious maturity is less speculation and more functional judgements. If the community were to achieve this, it could bring the legitimacy cryptos to need to foster widespread adoption.
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