2013-14 bull market featured alt coins and gpu mining. 2017-2018 featured ETH, ICO's and to some degree forking. 2020-2022 was NFT's and ETH layer 2's or alternative chains. Where do we go next?
Maybe as I said before,Bitcoin is the Lord of the Rings.
When I started with crypto in 2013 I was taking a small gamble as I was (relatively) young and in good health. I was single, living paycheck to paycheck and managed to scrap together money to acquire some mining rigs. I've never exited since. The mining rigs turned inefficient and were shut down around 2019.
Currently I'm an old man with a considerable amount of my individual wealth still invested. 90% of the tasks I've contributed towards have gone to near no, however that has actually been surpassed by the few effective projects in time. I do not have the energy or time to rest and analyze whitepapers and network statistics all day anymore. I'm growing sluggish and life has taken a lot of that spare time from me.
There were plenty of projects that were shut down over time by corruption from within or regulations; Such as Privacy coins basically being banned from KYC trading, or the burdens of tax compliance, or assholes like FTX. Also don't ignore the outright scams that plagued social media and prospective new investors.
I am still convinced this is the future of money and not just a meme. I've seen complicated transactions occur that are seriously technological feats while protecting the decentralized and open nature of crypto. I just don't understand which projects are making new strides making use of the technology. Back in the old days there would be hype over internet site updates and a new purse accepting a coin. Currently I simply do not have the time to look into what is the next thing.
Truthfully I hope we are not all just resting and waiting on ETFs to make our market moon and waiting while they are taking control of what has always been a free market.
The boring but reliable stuff in Bitcoin. Very decentralized, pretty much only useful for a handful of carefully developed things, most prominently value transfer.
The more exciting stuff like Ethereum and other L1's. It's very cool to see this space trying its hand at various technologies and ultimately seeing the first mover dominate still after jumping a few hurdles on its own. Which doesn't mean the rest won't succeed. I find these more exciting because of the ecosystems they produce (or not)
The degenerate stuff like true alts, memecoins, all sorts of "utility tokens" and what not. These are what keeps my dopamine flowing and allow the degen in me to gamble just a little bit, or at least take a few risks that might pay off.
Hopefully Bitcoin won’t become a trigger for future wars? Or become a stand-in for the devil and sin?