In the last 18 months, cryptocurrency has carved out a corner of the investment worldBefore that time, it was easy (and fair) to look at bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies almost as failuresIts not that they were collapsing, but they were very far from accomplishing their purpose, which, as even staunch advocates would state, was to shove aside regular currency and establish a new world order of paymentAt some point however the focus shiftedThis doesnt mean any specific changes were made, but for the most part the world started to look at cryptocurrency as a digital asset rather than a type of money.
This has led to investment, and while no exact number is known its fair to assume millions around the world now buy and sell cryptocurrency specifically in search of financial gain, rather than to adopt a new way of making paymentsEven so, cryptocurrency remains a very difficult investmentBecause its still new, its universally available, and its decentralized and mostly unregulated, it can be very hard to project in any sort of exact or meaningful way.
Theres a lot to learn if youre thinking about getting started in this new, but rapidly expanding world of investmentYoull need to research the different cryptocurrencies, learn about cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges, etcBut in terms of actual strategy youll also need to figure out where to look if youre attempting to find signs of growth for any of these digital assetsThe following are a few that can get you started.
Merchant Adoption
Merchant adoption of cryptocurrency as an acceptable payment method has not occurred at any specific moment, or on any particularly broad scaleBut it is ongoing, which means its important to keep an eye onHowever, monitoring merchant adoption can be trickyJust this past spring a report on this very topic quoted PayPal CEO John Rainey as suggesting that the volatility of cryptocurrencies is dissuading merchants from accepting it as paymentHowever, the same report went on to point out that merchant adoption of altcoins is rising (altcoins being all cryptocurrency coins aside from the original, bitcoin)What you really want to keep an eye on however is if any major industry or huge company chains make public moves to accept cryptocurrency, because this could result in a legitimate boost in demand.
Online Gaming
If youre not familiar with the real-money online gaming business, this category might come as something of a surpriseBut the important thing to remember here is that sites and companies working in this space go to great lengths to attract player interestSometimes that just means putting forth an interesting selection of themed card and slot arcade gamesMost frequently it means offering promotions and bonuses like free spins on slot games for newcomersBut it can also mean making it easier, more secure, or even just more appealing for gamers to deposit money into an accountThis has already led to the widespread adoption of PayPal by gaming platforms, and bitcoin casinos are starting to trickle into the marketIt follows that should cryptocurrency ever become the norm for financial transactions in this area, it would significantly increase usage (and possibly demand, by extension).
The New Internet
This is a little bit more of a concept to keep in mind, but its certainly one thats potentially lucrative for certain cryptocurrenciesBasically, its been suggested that the popular altcoin ethereum could be the backbone of a new internet (or that some other blockchain network could achieve the same distinction)A network like this is designed to be built upon with apps and innovations, which ultimately run on ether tokens – a cryptocurrencyRight now, again, this is just a conceptBut in 10 or 20 years, if a blockchain network does emerge as a sort of new, secure, and possibly even more efficient internet, the cryptocurrencies connected to that network will stand to gain significant value.