Will the CryptoWinter Last?
30 Thought-Leaders Predict the Next 8 Blockchain Trends
We accessed our extensive network of pioneers and innovators to establish the 8 most important issues facing the blockchain industry in 2019.
Click HERE for instant access to our 2019 Market Report. Explore what 30 thought-leaders from dozens of industry verticals had to say.
As a partner at Decentranet, I am constantly exploring the latest trends in blockchain technology. I’ve been in the blockchain/cryptocurrency ecosystem since running Brock Pierce’s Coin Congress (later d10e) back in 2014. I‘ve seen this space explode in scope and visibility, watched scammers and frauds rise and fall, and observed utterly disastrous “predictions” from idealists to naysayers move markets in real-time.
I believe now (more than ever) that there are two guarantees this emerging technology offers: turbulence and promise.
When our team first had this idea, we appealed to our vast network of investors, vendors, clients, and partners to curate our list of topics. 30 thought-leaders answered our call, and based on their feedback, we saw fascinating trends emerge. Most thought-leaders, despite the “CryptoWinter” are more engaged in blockchain technology over market prices.
This is a noticeable shift for our community, and one that I welcome. Our industry is maturing. As a new mother, I can reasonably compare the developments in this ecosystem comprised of pioneers, misfits, professionals, and rebels to the transition a newborn experiences from infancy into “toddler” years. This industry is just beginning to stand on its own two feet, if you will. The Market Report that our firm produced aims to capture this developing sophistication as thoroughly as possible.
We believe that we’ve compiled one of the most well-rounded analysis of what 2019 may portend for blockchain, and not just for insiders. We took great care to explain this technology to someone passingly interested in blockchain’s potential. On a regular basis, I speak about cryptocurrency and blockchain to people from all walks of life, and this report should speak to the curious, regardless of their technological expertise. As I said when interviewed by Forbes, I truly believe a major level-up for this industry will be those from legacy and traditional industries gravitating toward the blockchain industry; this Report was crafted with our current and future colleagues in mind.
We covered these topics in our Report:
- The long-term value of security tokens vs utility tokens.
- Growing use cases for alternative tokens, including stablecoins and non-fungible tokens.
- Enterprise adoption, real-world use cases and the potential of the next killer app.
- Whether Public vs private blockchains will dominate and the future of other distributed ledger technologies.
- How will regulatory bodies, like the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) impact the industry?
- The need for self-imposed industry ethics standards.
- The influx of institutional capital and its potential impact on the industry.
- The future of governance.
My favorite excerpts are below.
On the 2017 ICO craze:
“The thing I really liked about the ICO phase is that you saw some small, committed teams walking away with $50m which gave them a 20-year runway. Even if they restructure and grow and that turns into 5 years with a bigger team, that’s a kind of problem-solving firepower that we haven’t seen since the days of XeroxPARC. It’s very hard inside of a quarterly-results-driven form of capitalism to get long and deep research done, and the changes in academia have made it really difficult to get this kind of thinking done even there. So I’m quite optimistic that some of these projects will do paradigm-defining work on the core technologies which will fuel the next decades of our technological transformation. If they survive the SEC. — Vinay Gupta, Founder and CEO, Mattereum
On the need for the blockchain industry to self-impose industry ethics and standards:
“For outsiders, the story of cryptocurrency has been clouded by the disaster of Mt. Gox, the illicitness of The Silk Road, as well as providing money-laundering resources for terrorists and international cartels. Those of us at the forefront of this industry, however, grasp that we are watching a story of creation, adoption, and the development of wholly new markets. Now is the time when adequate, valuable blockchain-based applications and ethical business practices become so important. Leaders in this space are now arbiters of principle, and we are watching this valuable development happen in real-time. While there are a number of industry ethics groups emerging, we have yet to see one gain major prominence. We believe this will change in 2019.” — Team Decentranet
On real use cases:
“Blockchains can be the key to solving many complex obstacles on the path to data sovereignty. In an age of data breaches, we are suffering from a lack of transparent and consent-based data collection, and the ability to own and monetize our own digital assets. As blockchain entrepreneurs, we now have the opportunity to solve so many problems presented by traditional, centralized technology solutions.” — Brittany Kaiser at Digital Asset Trade Association and Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower
The Report will be distributed to our network of more than 10,000 founders, investors, advisors, journalists, conference attendees and others in the blockchain space.
We hope this collection of observations gives our readers key insights into the prior year in review, and thoughts on trends and projects to lookout for in the coming year. Those of us investing our time and capital in the promising future of blockchain technology should be assured that interesting times most definitely lie ahead. I continue to stand in genuine awe, watching it unfold. Cheers to 2019 being another turbulent, promising year for blockchain technology.
Best wishes for a prosperous and fulfilling 2019,
Tiffany Madison, Team Decentranet
Next Steps:
- Click HERE for instant access to our 2019 Market Report. Explore what 30 thought-leaders from dozens of industry verticals had to say.
- We are advisors and consultants that work with blockchain companies and other transformational technology projects. If you’d like to connect with us on how we can help your company, please click HERE or send us an email at hello@decentranet.com.
- You can also reach out to inquire about any of our current clients or portfolio companies at hello@decentranet.com.
- Want to be featured in our next report? We would love to hear from you at hello@decentranet.com.
