Dennis Lewis
hello @everyone and welcome to the first ever CryptoTraderNews team roundup!
the idea behind this is for us to collectively join in and discuss a pressing topic
remember, the entire world is expecting profound wisdom from each and every one of us…
(what they’ll get may be different, but we’ll see)
since this is our first try at this, why don’t we each present ourselves a bit?
who’s brave enough to go first?
bran?
I will
Hey everyone. Brandon, Virgo, South Africa. I like long walks on the beach. Etc
Been following crypto since 2016. Had its ups and downs. Been a wild ride the whole way. As far as where the industry is headed, it’s anyone’s guess
It’s really up to developers at this point
Dennis Lewis
Haha – @Meredith ?
Meredith
Hello everyone! I’m Meredith from Florida, formerly of New York. I consider myself an online community and social media engagement specialist. Building networks and navigating the interwebz since the mid-90s. I heard about crypto through the chat channels nearly a decade ago, but didn’t pay much attention until about three years ago when more and more blockchain related communities and crypto started to crop up. I’ve been hooked ever since – tackling those learning curves.
Dennis Lewis
Awesome, Master @obiwan ?
obiwan
Hello everyone, I’m Alan. From the finance world. I heard about crypto browsing youtube a couple of years back, it seemed like the ravings of a mad man so I paid no mind. Then caught the crypto bug mid 2017. My eyes have been opened. I’ve then written, researched and have been working with crypto projects in marketing and other aspects.
Tony Lewis
“like the ravings of a mad man”
Dennis Lewis
(he also comes to work every day in a brown, hooded robe…)
@Tony Lewis ?
Tony Lewis
Well I’m Tony! Born and raised in Spain, I got into crypto two years ago and I still have no idea of what I do every day at work
Dennis Lewis
haha – and I’m Dennis (born near Roswell, NM many moons ago)
I’ve been in crypto for about three years and would love to see this industry reach its true potential
So to get things rolling today, I’d like to introduce our topic
“Will this bear market ever end?” And perhaps to give things a bit more structure I’d like to break this down into a couple of subquestions
1. Is this “just” a bear market? 2. Will we see ETH at $1K and Bitcoin at $10K again any time soon? 3. If so, what do you think needs to happen for the glory days to return?
@Meredith Ladies first!
Meredith
1. I do think it’s “just” a bear market. Crypto moves so fast that people want instant gratification. The fact that it’s been the longest bear market in crypto means nothing to me. In fact, it’s a marker (to me) that we might be reaching a mainstream market now… Going at the speed of business, if you will.
2. I expect to see the rise of value. It’s going to be a roller coaster ride, for sure. But I think will be running with the bulls definitely by the end of the year. Look at the trends since crypto emerged. I really believe – or rather hope – this is cyclical. I think I answered #3 in there too. lol
Tony Lewis
Let me just jump in and agree with Meredith
I mean, the crypto market is still a market, right?
It can’t just keep rising forever. there’s good cycles and bad cycles.
Despite the fact that it’s the worst dropdown rollercoaster we’ve seen, I still feel like it’s going to go back up. When? well, who knows. but it has to go back up. IT BETTER.
There are huge market crashes in every industry. crypto is no different. it all comes down to whether we feel like crypto has a future. I personally believe in the power of crypto and blockchain and therefore I feel like people will get their hopes back up eventually. Maybe we need to see more solid projects come out to light?
We’re still lightyears away from mainstream adoption…
Dennis Lewis
hmmm… I think you guys are jumping to conclusions here
Tony Lewis
lol
Dennis Lewis
what makes you so sure that maybe the “fad” is over and people will move on to investing in sneakers or tulips or something else?
is it possible that there just isn’t enough intrinsic value in crypto to make the technology succeed?
Meredith
Because traditional banking is dying. Too many unbanked. Too much corruption. Crypto is the next generation of money. I mean… I remember when debit cards were brand new. No one thought that would catch on because we like the feel of cash, right? How many of you guys actually carry a lot of cash around anymore?
bran?
I think for the normies they hopped on during the last bull run it was a tulip fad. But bitcoin still has a function and will always at least attract digital spenders and that could increase alongside e-commerce
Tony Lewis
I don’t think I ever said that the enthusiasm is over
bran?
As for ethereum, that’s a different scenario completely imo. The community needs to prove that it’s more than just a platform for ICOs
Dennis Lewis
I was playing devil’s advocate a bit, but think about this in order to create a lasting market, things need to have real value – tulips crashed because let’s face it – how useful is a tulip?
but then ask yourself – how useful is blockchain?
is there real value for real people?
Meredith
You might have to give a little history for those who don’t know about the tulip market, Dennis. LOL
Tony Lewis
absolutely revolutionary. no doubt about that.
yeah you’re losing me with the tulip example haha
bran?
Was one of the biggest crashes
In Netherlands and Europe
Dennis Lewis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
Tulip mania (Dutch: tulpenmanie) was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for some bulbs of the recently introduced and fashionable tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then dramatically collapsed in February 1637. It is generally considered …
so for a brief period tulips were like cryptokitties – everyone with some money wanted them
until no one did
now, think of markets that have been around for centuries
real estate, stocks, bonds
they all are based on assets with true intrinsic value
people will always want a place to live or somewhere to invest for retirement
Meredith
As for value… It’s very subjective. If I gave you 2 chickens for a wheelbarrow, then those chickens are “worth” a wheelbarrow in value. Crypto is really no different. If I have merchandise or a skill and willing to take X amount of crypto, I’ve just given it value.
Dennis Lewis
so the question becomes, is crypto a tulip or something more serious?
Tony Lewis
this is getting deep now
Dennis Lewis
sure, but you can eat the chickens and then carry out the trash in the wheelbarrow
but what do you do with ETH or Bitcoin?
Dennis Lewis
I know I’m being argumentative, but I believe that what’s holding down the market is that as an industry we have yet to prove true intrinsic value
Tony Lewis
well, what do you do with paper money? you use it to buy stuff right? I think it’s just a matter of being able to do the same with crypto?
Dennis Lewis
and that means adoption – people using crypto for reals
Meredith
Well… this might be a bad example, but if you compare ETH and BTC to electricity – we know it exists, right? Who determines how much we pay for it? Is it based on big business or how much of it we consume?
bran?
I agree to an extent. Bitcoin has an intrinsic value though. It’s unseizable, semi-anonymous money. There’s always a market for that lol
Dennis Lewis
i think we’ll see the market rebound when blockchain projects start delivering on the promises they’ve made
bran?
Whether the price fluctuates is a different story
Dennis Lewis
sure, if you’re a North Korean hacker – of course
but that’s not the kind of industry we want, right?
bran?
Or someone running an e-commerce store
Worried about chargebacks bc they are moms and pops
Dennis Lewis
wouldn’t it be nice to see blockchain projects competing in the real world with established brands?
in my opinion, the industry has proven that “in theory” the technology is cool – that it has promise
however, nobody has really DELIVERED a solution that grandma might want to use
the next big wave of crypto is when THAT happens
master @obiwan – you’re awfully quiet
Meredith
I think that people also think that blockchain and cryptocurrency are one and the same. They’re not.
obiwan
bitcoin not blockchain.
I’ll jump in here. The price of bitcoin was around 1110 in January 2017, and $17,000 in early 2018. Btc operated in the shadows (for the most part) over the course the prior years. People like Mike Novogratz, the Winklevii, Wences Cesares, and others were slowly building out infrastructure, evangelizing, and buying up bitcoins. for the market to trend up, more education needs to take place, more exposure, with this we’ll see more people jumping into the space and building. the world wide web showed real value after the dot com boom. We’re seeing people doing great work in the space on education, Anthony Pompliano, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, etc. we now have a crypto based merchan Bank, Galaxy Digital. We have companies such as Morgan Creek Digital that are bringing in pension funds who have invested into crypto based funds. More funds are coming into the sector and infrastructure is being built out around it. JP Morgan is talking about bringing their own stablecoin! Ethereum – Projects such as Status, MakerDAO, and a few others have actual utility. Crypto have value if people prize uncorrelated SOV, privacy, frictionless payments, crypto lending. I’m thinking we’ll see a turn around in 2020-2021.
So, in summary, there was A LOT of hype in 2017. Only a few projects have been able to deliver, we still have a lot of copycats and projects that shouldn’t be on CMC.
Until the CMC dwindles down from 1600 or so projects that are listed…we’ll probably be in the bear
All part of the education and development phase.
There’s a few gems in the crypto boom. Diggindg deep and investing in the special few projects will bring returns.
Oh, I forgot, we have cool functionalities, such as Bitcoin being pegged to Apple, if Apple goes up your btc goes up.
Meredith
That brings up a question: WHO should launch education and development? Is it the responsibility of the projects and people launching those initiatives? Is it on the shoulders of marketers and propaganda? Does that slide back into big businesses telling us “adopt this because it’s good for you.”
obiwan
Education and development is happening with projects and people around the world. We’re going to see more crypto native news organizations.
Dennis Lewis
like CTN!
Meredith
nice segue. lol
Dennis Lewis
(shameless plug)
obiwan
More conferences, more events, etc. With BTC Argentinians and VZLA individuals have been using it for some time now, currency crisis. We’re trying to find more ways to find use for both emerging markets and developed countries.
^^ had to set it up.
Dennis Lewis
well, it seems like we’re all pretty much on the same page today
obiwan
More crypto native publications rise because of the interest of the founders and because there really is a market developing around blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Patience is key kere.
bran?
Good summary obiwan now I see how you survived order 66
Dennis Lewis
the promise is there we all feel like the market will come back we all are actively working to widen the community and promote solid, strong projects only differences I see are as to how long it will take
Meredith
What are your thoughts, Dennis? You were kind of moderating so you didn’t chime in.
How long do you think we will be in this bear market?
Dennis Lewis
well, I think that this is probably going to take longer than we’d all hope for.
I feel like we need to see real progress from real projects
Tony Lewis
it’s really hard to give dates to be honest
Dennis Lewis
but for the long run I’m optimistic
obiwan
Obi wan said it best. “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Bear markets are good. I think the bigger and quicker the rise, the longer the bear.
Tony Lewis
no one really knows or understands this thing haha. but I agree for the most part with everyone. I think seeing real progress will be key.
bran?
Agreed. I also think that. I don’t think the bear market ends until something innovative comes and resparks interest
Meredith
It’s been said that most “traditional” businesses (bricks and mortar) fail within the first year. They struggle through the first 5 if they make it that far. But after that, they become “established” and have a greater chance to survive (barring major catastrophe). I believe that some of the blockchain projects have a good foundation. Now it’s a matter of finding the ones that are within the 5 year survival phase. Those are the ones that need more attention. Just my opinion.
obiwan
we’re past the bitconnect phase. on to the buidl phase.
Exactly why 2020, 2021 target date.
bran?
Yeah but no more Carlos Matos memes. We moved passed bitconnect and it cost us a heavy toll
obiwan
Also, economists are calling for a recession. That’ll play a role too.
It’ll be interesting to see how people allocate funds during a recession.
We know BTC was launched during one, but how does the entire industry do during one?
You’re not thinking about moons and lambos in a recession.
Tony Lewis
Alright guys – let’s wrap it up for today. Let’s just give a quick final round of conclusions… Bitcoin 10K. What year?
I say 2022.
bran?
Too hard to say. Not 2019 though
obiwan
*Mid 2021
Dennis Lewis
end of 2020
Meredith
I’m going to say end 2019 – early 2020 and a lot of bouncing through 2021
I’m an optimist. lol
Dennis Lewis
posterity will judge!
bran?
But in all honesty any pro-crypto chain of events could make it that by May this year because of the nature of the markets but don’t think it will happen
Tony Lewis
@Dennis Lewis @bran? you need to take a dive here. we need a year.
Dennis Lewis
I said end of 2020
Tony Lewis
oh yeah sorry haha missed it
bran?
Haha
Dennis Lewis
and with that I formally declare today’s roundtable a success!
That was fun!
