Bitcoin hasn’t been in the news these past few months, largely because a public health pandemic and economic downturn has crowded out any and all other information. While some Bitcoin enthusiasts worry about this, given their proclivity to thinking that any media is good media, it could actually be good news for the broader cryptomarket. While it is indisputably the most popularly recognized cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin has failed to fulfill its often-lauded potential time and time again, which has burdened other burgeoning tokens and shed serious doubt on the overall cryptocurrency scene.
Here’s a review of why Bitcoin’s failure is great news for some other elements of the cryptocurrency marketplace, and why we should all stop expecting a miraculous recovery and future performance that’s unlikely to ever materialize.
How long is enough?
For countless years, Bitcoin’s most vocal proponents have already promised that tomorrow is going to be a brighter day. These individuals, who often missed out on the early Bitcoin boom and instead came late to the party, hope that in doing so they can propel the growth of the token to ensure their own future profits. In reality, the cryptocurrency marketplace has evolved, and is no longer singularly obsessed with a single token that talks the talk but fails to walk the walk.
There’s no denying that the crypto-marketplace is riddled with failures. After all, approximately half of 2017’s cryptocurrency ICO projects have already crashed and burned. Many people who didn’t understand the underlying blockchain technology were caught up in Bitcoin’s ceaseless hype factor and found themselves sorely out of luck when the time came to reap a return on their initial investments. By no means, however, does this mean that all cryptocurrency tokens are doomed to failure. Rather, it means that we’re beginning to see a great purge of lackluster contenders that will leave a stronger, more competitive and thus more effective marketplace of tomorrow.
Senior industry leaders are vocally of the opinion that the vast majority of tokens will fail. Bitcoin’s enduring inability to produce serious gains also speaks to the fact that even the most well-known tokens will struggle to take off in the way that major, mainstream currencies that are backed by central banks have throughout history. Advertising gurus and the likes of YEAH! Local can help companies turn things around when they’re in the red, but cryptocurrencies have nowhere and no one to turn to when things eventually go south.
Bitcoin’s price volatility and the endless obsession over its price level has made it an unthinkable asset for mainstream investors and business owners to invest in. Unlike crypto-gamblers, they simply can’t risk their financial futures on this token. Even blockchain’s expansion has been called into doubt in some areas, though that underlying technology is still far more likely to take off than Bitcoin. This may be tough for some in the cryptomarket to stomach, but the failure of Bitcoin and other leading tokens to take off will ensure more realistic expectations in the future, which will in turn lead to less volatility and greater mainstream acceptance. Until that happens, the world’s most popular token will have little to show for itself other than an occasional media headline that quickly sizzles out into disappointment.
