Adoption & Criticism

We are nearing the end of Q1, and the cryptocurrency market rests at a modest $420B market cap. We entered 2018 with an unbelievable market of over $800B, leaving investors wondering will we see a $1T market cap this year. Besides whales withdrawing gains, governments worldwide have been striving to stay ahead of the curve that seems to not only be liberating people but also segueing them away from their banking structure. It is safe to say in today's time even if you don't own any cryptocurrencies (protect your keys), you still have heard them either in conversation or on CNBC which I like to call CryptoNBC now. Bitcoin still retains over 1/3 of the total market cap value which speaks to the rise of the alt coins. In this brief passage, let's explore what the summer may hold for crypto.

    Despite criticism, Bitcoin keeps moving forward. It is not to be deterred nor mocked. The blockchain always gets the last laugh. We heard public outcries last year from Jamie Dimon, who has now completely changed his narrative and even J.P.  Morgan has gone out recently to say cryptocurrencies aren't going anywhere, so it's best to adapt to them. South Korea is constantly amending and making laws to have a greater control of their markets, as they are one of the largest players in crypto next to China. In the United States, the state of Arizona has recently passed legislation where citizens may now begin paying they're taxed via crypto starting 2020 making them the first openly crypto friendly state. Companies like Nvidia, T-Mobile, and even Microsoft are scrambling to see how to incorporate Blockchain technology into their business. Even Facebook CEO, Mark  Zuckerburg has banned all crypto ads on his site due to the traffic it was pulling away from him. Rumors suggest he is trying to start his own coin, while others suggest they will soon accept Litecoin as small payments. Either way, it's always good press
for the cryptocurrency. 

     
THE SEC 

    Recently the SEC met with the CFTC to discuss the future of cryptos and the widespread adoption. Overall, the meeting was very positive and could lead into a very lucrative summer for long-term investors. Some key points in the meeting were heard when members gave testimonies on how their children (millennials), were extremely exuberant and all in on the new web boom 2.0. They spoke on how most kids removed themselves from the stock market to completely build on the new emerging market.  I urge and implore everyone when they get a chance to try to sit through the boring jargon, to see how you can position yourself to earn income. More topics were discussed touching on taxing ICOs, catching "terrorists", and basically which ways they can regulate
to dip their own toes in. 

    Speaking of terrorism, Venezuela is still undergoing massive hyperinflation and has to resort to almost primitive living as they strive to rebuild their economy. The electricity is free there, and many revolutionaries have been mining cryptos and using their Amazon Prime accounts to order food to be dropped in Colombia just to smuggle it back over the border. My friends what I am saying is Bitcoin is not a revolutionary currency, but it is the currency for revolution. Venezuela had already launched a crypto-based currency to back their country to segue off of their Bolivar. The currency is worth one barrel of oil and can be traded worldwide in exchange for medicine, food, etc. This type of radicalism is what stems revolution.

Brazil, Poland, Denmark, and many other countries have already scrambled
to buy as many as they can hopefully saving the South American country. One chair member in the SEC, Jay Clayton, came under a little fire for
his position on currencies and more importantly was there any inside information.

Of course, chair member Clayton denied accusations, but it came to the board's attention that they will have a hard time regulation cryptos when a good number of members of the board were leaving to pursue their own agendas much like Silicon Valley developers. The problem was basically how can you gain proper regulation when clearly you have to re-hire (or fire) many members to form a new committee. The blockchain lives.

Adoption

    Aside from the novice investor, many celebrities have joined the blockchain train to explore the benefits and knowledge. Rapper 50 Cent recently cashed out over $7M in Bitcoin from a 2014 released album "Animal Ambition". Katy Perry has expressed her fondness for privacy coins, and 
Mariah Carey is big on Monero. The winter Olympics, held in South Korea, are giving out crypto-endorsements to winter athletes to further increase adoption. Jay-Z has recently come out and made a small statement on the technology and expressing his fondness. Rapper and entrepreneur Nippsey Hussle not only has stated he is working on his crypto portfolio, he is one of the first to open up a smart store where not only items may be purchased with crypto, but the clothing has QR codes allowing you to download more music and see what new concerts are coming up. Truly an enormous move, as saving and being frugal is the new cool as it can unlock new keys to wealth. 

    Elon Musk has expressed his interest in helping Puerto Rico after their recent Hurricane disaster, amongst other countries. He is willing and wants to back the entire island off of the Ethereum blockchain helping build it back or better than what it was. The agenda for the big boys in the White House is to put new resorts and BILLION dollar lofts and condos on the island mimicking the success of Dubai as they have sold over 50 lofts in Bitcoin. A small group of crypto
investors has stated they are buying land near the beach and starting one of the first decentralized cities. The world is evolving and the only question is, how long
before there will be world wide adoption. 

Conclusion

    2018 will serve to be a huge year for crypto as no more heads will be able to turn away. Forbes list has released their first 100 richest crypto list which of course encompasses the majority of early developers and exchange creators from early 2010. Never the less, it is still a site to be held to see how much wealth was made in just a decade. My personal hypothesis is we will see a $1T market cap around August conservatively. Many people are currently receiving their W2s and tax returns 
which the majority I feel will put back into cryptocurrencies to yield a higher profit. Many new technologies are being spawned as well stagnating the price of BTC, but allowing developers to increase its scalability to process transactions faster. BTC may end up being a true store of value as LTC may be the currency to spend with.

As time keeps moving forward, many will wonder what were you doing during the greatest transfer of wealth in human history. Whether you are a spectator, investor, or critic
it is safe to say everyone has an opinion on blockchain technology and its capabilities. At first, they laugh at you, then they critique you, then finally they join you. The
year is still young, and I hope you have figured out a blueprint to your liberation because right under your nose a revolution is being spawned.  
-Knotty Investor