Imagine working hard attempting to build an honest, revenue-generating business on top of Bitcoin’s technology that does not involve pre-selling coins or NFTs. Then imagine gaining virtually no customers, usage, traction, or notoriety while anonymous projects earn tens of thousands of dollars in a couple of days from an ICO or NFT launch.
I have observed this occur many times in the Bitcoin SV space, which does attract honest builders due to being the only micropayment, scalable blockchain that works. The perverse incentive exists to perpetually promise new features behind tokens or NFTs, sell out, get to the secondary market, and then kick the can down the road in terms of delivery of anything. The easy money is made, so why stick around? Why add any functionality to the tokens launched? Ironically, the low mint price of tokens on BSV and its lack of serious controls on its tokenization marketplaces incentivizes every scam under the sun, as anonymous creators can create alt social media accounts and launch token after token without consequence.
What message does this send to builders grinding away quietly with expectations of middling returns compared to their counterparts? To be clear, I am not suggesting that these builders should expect guaranteed success for working hard; I am only stating that they cannot succeed while Ponzi schemes that yield high returns in a matter of days are running rampant (to those who get in and out early).
Capital will flock towards high yields before low, even if the risk level is high. Furthermore, the high-risk high return paradigm will deter serious, reasonable investors who understand that these returns are not sustainable. Therefore, the assertion is that the entire digital currency space needs a further washing out before any serious business using the technology can truly emerge. This paradigm is starting to change with the crash occurring in the Summer of 2022. Digital currency prices are down 50% or more year-to-date, and NFT sales and prices are down as well.
However, the recent bounce in prices indicates investors are still hopeful for a price rebound. For true honest uses of the underlying technology to manifest, investors need to experience even more pain. This recent crash in 2022 is only a warning shot, in my opinion. Some of the loudest mouths were indeed humbled by bankruptcy, but this is only the beginning. What the crash exposed were similar risks from the 2008 financial crisis—credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, exacerbated by extreme leverage, and low-interest rates. Top companies in the space are still struggling and/or are under investigation by the U.S. government (Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), OpenSea, Kraken,
Binance).
The worst is yet to come as larger dominos as Tether and USDC have yet to fall. Due to the loss of funds, investors are now begging for regulation instead of parroting “Code is Law.” It is not a coincidence that the government is finally acting after criminal behavior was exposed from the recent crash. Personally, I look forward to a further washout, as only then can the true businesses acting in good faith even have a chance at success.
Watch: The BSV Global Blockchain Convention presentation, BSV Blockchain: A World of Good
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