[2018 Review] A healthy year of depression for Bitcoin, Criptovalute and Blockchain Assets

"My opinion on the entire bubble of dot.com is that many people who wanted to make a lot of money got too excited and exaggerated the commercial aspects of the Internet prematurely, I think the Internet view as a means of democratization – like all printers – both real – we let ourselves be distracted by the mass hallucinations of the bubble. "- Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist

For the Internet, read blockchain and you realize how this quote resonates again considerably after almost two decades. This is because it is not so much a quote that asserts its opinion on a specific bubble, but a concise observation, eternally valid of the ineluctable socio-economic effects of revolutionary ideas.

"We tend to overestimate the effect of short-term technology and underestimate the long-term effect" – Roy Amara

But why do we continue to do it? It is a self-feeding cycle. Once a promising new technology, so far unimaginable, captures our collective imagination, our immediate response is to theorize, and to some extent hypothesize, various applications for it, even if our understanding and appreciation for use Practical technology is in childhood.

It follows a heuristic process to reveal applications that can be implemented through trial and error. Inevitably, our first attempts at founder, resulting in misplaced cynicism. Perhaps this overhyped technology is not all this after all?

Between widespread disillusionment and derision, some of us persist, wiser to have learned from the first misinterpretations, aware of any failure that represents a lesson to draw upon, and eventually discover practical applications for technology.

So failures are not always an accusation of technology, but perhaps our interpretation of it. This is true of any lasting technology ever conceived, yet it seems like there's a bad moment around us.

A year of necessary depression

To greet

/ Saljʊt (ə)RE/

adjective

(of something unpleasant or unwelcome) beneficial in providing an opportunity for learning from experience

At first glance, 2018 was a harrowing year for cryptocurrencies: failed projects, falling interest, startups struggling to stay afloat.

But in reality it was a healthy year – one that, following the rampant and unsustainable speculation towards the end of 2017, had to be endured for further progress. While price action has been grim for the whole year, functionally, Bitcoin is in a much better place than it was 12 months ago.

In the review of 2017 we discussed how 2018 could be the year in which we separate the wheat from the chaff. Given the cooling of indiscriminate investments in ill-conceived ICOs and the fierce speculation on assorted altcoins, we certainly seem to be on track.

Let's take a look at the most important events of this year before discussing what you might expect.

News and events from 2018

January 2nd^ND Bitcoin's dominance in the cryptocurrency market is at its lowest level thanks to the growing interest in alternative digital coins. Despite a market capitalization of $ 231.8 billion, Bitcoin's market share fell to a new 36.1% low compared to the total valuation of all cryptocurrencies. On the contrary, at the beginning of 2017, its market share was more than 80%.

January 10th^th Warren Buffett is back again. The billionaire investor and his longtime manager Charlie Munger, two of the most successful investors in the world, say they will never invest in Bitcoin and that the cryptocurrencies "will end badly". Munger went on to add: "Investors are thrilled because at the moment things are going up and it sounds vaguely modern, but I'm not excited."

11 January^th South Korea is considering the prohibition of the Bitcoin trade. Justice Minister Park Sang-ki said that virtual currencies were "major concerns" and that the ministry was preparing a law to ban trade. The South Korean presidential office later said that the ban had not yet been finalized and a measure had been considered. The local price of Bitcoin declined by a fifth after the comments of the Minister of Justice.

January 26th^th Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck states that about 523 million NEM coins in the exchange were sent to another account around 3:00 local time. Stolen coins were worth about 58 billion yen at the time of the survey, or about 534.8 million dollars, according to the exchange.

January 30th^th The social media giant Facebook presents a new policy to ban advertising involving Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings. Rob Leathern, director of the company's product management, wrote in a blog post on January 30 that the new policy targets "ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial offers of coins, and cryptocurrency. "

6 February^th The price of the bitcoin drops to $ 5.947, which represents a 70% decline from its historical high only six weeks ago, between US banks banning credit card purchases and governments adjusting to the cryptocurrency legislation. Financial regulators all over the world have warned investors that they could lose all their money if they bought digital currencies issued by companies, known as initial coin offerings.

7 February^th The testimony of the Senate Banking Committee, the president of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Christopher Giancarlo, clarified that Bitcoin was here to stay: "We owe this new generation to respect their enthusiasm for virtual currencies, with a thoughtful response and balanced, and not contemptuous. "

February 12th^th The use of energy for the extraction of Bitcoins in Iceland is bound to exceed that of all Icelandic homes, says a spokesperson for the Icelandic energy company HS Orka. "If all these projects are done, we will not have enough energy for that. What we are seeing now is … you can almost call it an exponential growth, I think [energy] data center consumption, "said Sigurbergsson.

February 20th^th The official of the South Korean government for the regulation of cryptocurrencies is found dead at his home in Seoul. The police assumed that Jung had a heart attack while he slept and that he was waiting for details from the coroner's office, local news agency Yonhap reported.

February 21st^st With its economy devastated by hyperinflation, Venezuela launches the national cryptocurrency "Petro" supported by its oil reserves, in an attempt to circumvent the harsh economic sanctions imposed by the US government.

March 2^ND The governor of the Bank of England (BOE) Mark Carney calls for more regulation of cryptocurrencies, defining the huge price moves and volatility "speculative mania". Carney said: "The time has come to keep the crypt-asset ecosystem at the same standards as the others in the financial system.The average volatility of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization has been more than 25 times that of the US stock market in 2017. "

8th of March^th The Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) closes two cryptocurrency grants, ordering it to suspend operations for a month, as part of a crackdown after the 534 million hack of Coincheck in January. The FSA also issued business improvement orders to five other exchanges, including Coincheck (again), which had already been slapped with a corporate improvement order in January.

March 14th^th Bitcoin drops briefly below $ 8,000 after Google, the world's largest online advertising provider, claims it will ban cryptocurrency ads. The technology giant Google announced an update on Wednesday on its financial services policy that will limit advertising for "cryptocurrencies and related content" starting in June.

March 19^th The executive branch of the United States issues an executive order prohibiting the use or purchase of the Petro Venezuelan cryptocurrency, claiming that the currency was issued illegally in an attempt to circumvent the US sanctions against Venezuela, and in particular the regime of President Nicolás Maduro.

March 20th^th Bitcoin rally back over $ 9,000 after the G20 positive cryptocurrency meeting. "It was a very nice meeting.The spirit of the discussion was very productive and I agree that everyone was very satisfied with it," said the governor of the Central Bank of Argentina, Federico Sturzenegger, during a press conference .

March 25th^th A survey of thousands of Americans believes that Bitcoin is the most popular investment option among millennials. Given an investment kitten of $ 10,000, 9.19% of Millennials (18-34) said they would invest $ 10,000 in cryptocurrencies, compared to 4.04% for Generation Xers (35-54) and 3.08% by Baby Boomers (55+). In particular, 76% of Millennials in the survey stated that they would invest $ 10,000 in Bitcoin, 12% in Ethereum and 12% in Litecoin.

April 5th^th The Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), prohibits regulated financial institutions in India from dealing with cryptocurrencies. "In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, the entities regulated by RBI must not treat or provide services to natural or legal persons who deal with or settle [virtual currencies]", The bank said in a statement.The RBI was more open to the blockchain, the technology that supports virtual currencies, and states in the statement that it has the potential to improve the financial system.

April 12th^th The Vietnamese government weighs about $ 658 million of alleged cryptocurrency fraud in the country following a false initial money supply (ICO) from a Ho Chi Minh City company. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue invited six ministries to "consider and quickly address" the issue.

April 15th^th Evangelist and cryptocurrency investor, Ian Balina, is hacked after a compromised college email account. Balina took Twitter to announce that her cryptocurrency portfolio was being hacked while hosting a live ICO review stream, recognizing that she had failed to set up robust security measures to prevent the incident.

17 April^th The cryptocurrency exchanges operating in New York receive an "investigation" letter from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The letter called for 13 cryptocurrency exchanges for detailed information on their operations as part of an "investigation into the facts to increase transparency and accountability".

April 18th^th Suspiciously behind the theft of 600 computers used to extract bitcoins in Iceland, Sindri Thor Stefansson escapes from prison and flees to Sweden on a plane that reportedly transported the Icelandic prime minister.

April 23rd^rd The Iranian central bank prohibits the banks of the country from dealing with cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, for money laundering concerns, reports the IRNA state press agency as the country tries to stop a currency crisis.

2 May^ND The US investment bank Goldman Sachs is proceeding with plans to establish the first Bitcoin trading operation at a Wall Street bank. Rana Yared, one of Goldman's executives overseeing the creation of the trading operation, said the bank had clear eyes on what it was transforming.

May 8th^th Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, rejects Bitcoin as nothing but a pure investment of "theory of fools". In an interview with CNBC, Gates said, "As an asset class, you do not produce anything, so you should not expect it to go up." It's a kind of pure "fool theory" investment. simple to do it ".

May 10th^th It is said that Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is working on a trading platform that would allow investors to bet on Bitcoin. The CEO of ICE, Jeffrey Sprecher, refused to exclude the offer of contracts based on digital currencies, "C & # 39; is a trend that we can not ignore here in my mind, so I do not discount it" .

May 12th^th South Korean prosecutors broke into Upbit's offices, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. "The goal is currently being investigated by prosecutors and is working together," he said in a notice to customers, adding that services such as transactions and withdrawals were not affected and that customer resources were safe. .

May 24th^th The US Department of Justice opens a criminal investigation into the fact that traders are manipulating the price of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The investigation focuses on illegal practices that can affect prices – such as spoofing or flooding the market with false orders to fool other traders into buying or selling.

30 May^th Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, compares Bitcoin to Napster: "We might find that bitcoin is a sort of digital resources Napster, an important flop, this is a transformation technology, but Spotify and iTunes and Pandora dominate the day because they are engaged with regulators to solve a real problem. "

June 10th^th The exchange of South Korean cryptocurrency Coinrail has been breached, losing more than $ 30 million according to the local news agency Yonhap. Coinrail said in a statement on its website that its system was hit by "cyber intrusion" on Sunday, causing a loss of around 30% of the exchanged currencies.

June 12th^th Apple prohibits the extraction of cryptocurrencies on iPhone and iPad. By amending the cryptocurrency review guidelines, Apple now claims that "apps, including any third-party advertisements displayed within them, may not run unrelated background processes, such as mining cryptocurrency ".

June 14th^th The US Securities and Exchange Commission official, William Hinman, issues a statement stating that the native currency of Ethereum, Ether, is not a security. "We do not see much value in seeing ether as security, ether is a currency that is evolving," Hinman told the Yahoo All Markets Summit.

June 17th^th The Bank for International Settlements states in its annual report that cryptocurrencies are not ready for prime time and, as far as traditional financial services are concerned, it may never be so. Citing a number of shortcomings, the BIS rejected decentralization as "a defect, not a force".

June 20th^th In a second exchange of exchanges in South Korea in as many weeks, Bithumb says that the hackers stole about 35 billion coins won (32 million dollars). The exchange blocked deposits and withdrawals of cryptocurrencies, said it will compensate the victims and transfer the assets of investors to a cold wallet.

June 26th^th Facebook relaxes its ban on cryptocurrency advertising but maintains a ban on ICO. Interested advertisers are asked to fill out an application that includes license information and if their currency is publicly listed to help Facebook determine their eligibility.

June 27th^th A multimillion-dollar transaction totaling 48,500 BTC ($ 300 million) is reported on Bitcoin's Blockchain at a cost of only 675 Satoshis (0.04 USD).

3 July^rd Ripple Labs Inc. is afflicted by a third-class fraud in California equity that seeks to classify the company's XRP cryptocurrency as a security subject to the California corporation code. Filed on behalf of a local XRP investor on 27 June in San Mateo County High Court, it is the third class action in two months against Ripple.

July 16th^th New York's asset management giant, BlackRock, sets up a working group to examine how it can "benefit" from cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, company CEO Larry Fink told Reuters.

10th of July^th Wall Street's cryptocurrency merchant, Bart Smith of Susquehanna International Group, says Bitcoin is still the best bet among cryptocurrencies. "If you want to own the resource that you can actually use today and that people use functionally, it's Bitcoin." The case of bitcoin usage is valid today, which is the Internet currency, "Smith told CNBC.

24th July^th Bitwise, asset manager of San Francisco, joins the race to launch a cryptocurrency ETF. The company has deposited a fund traded on the stock exchange with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that would have drawn a basket of 10 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. "The goal of the index is to capture the most valuable resources that emerge," told CNBC Hunter Horsley, co-founder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management.

July 26th^th The US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected a second attempt by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of Crypto exchange Gemini, to list the first cryptocurrency ETF on a regulated exchange. The BATS BZX Exchange proposal to quote and exchange Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust's commodity-based shares was voted 3-1 by the committee.

July 27th^th Taking a cue from Apple, Google prohibits cryptocurrency mining apps from the Play Store. "We do not allow apps that use cryptocurrency on devices, we allow applications that remotely manage cryptocurrency mining," reads Google's new policy.

3 August^rd Backed by Microsoft and Starbucks, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announces Bakkt, a Bitcoin futures market with the goal of offering a regulated federal market for Bitcoin. "Bakkt is designed to be a scalable ladder for institutional, commercial and consumer participation in digital goods, promoting greater efficiency, security and utility," said Kelly Loeffler, ICE's digital asset manager, who will serve as CEO of Bakkt.

6 August^th Among the inevitable rumors about Starbucks accepting Bitcoin, the American coffee company quickly contradicted them in a statement: "It is important to clarify that we are not accepting digital goods from Starbucks, but the exchange will convert digital resources like Bitcoin into US dollars, which can be used by Starbucks customers will not be able to pay Frappuccino with Bitcoin. "

August 9th^th A survey conducted by Cryptocurrency App Gem and analysis company Harris Insights found that 41% of Americans will never invest in cryptocurrencies. "We find that young people with less income are more willing to put money into crypts," said Gemma founder and CEO Micah Winkelspecht. "My guess is that cryptography is digital, and the younger generation is digital and used to doing everything on the internet."

August 14th^th The cryptocurrency markets fall while the plateaus suffer heavy losses. Bitcoin drops below $ 6,000 and dozens of smaller digital tokens, including Ether, retire to annual lows in widespread sales.

August 23rd^rd The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejects 9 Bitcoin ETF applications from ProShares, Direxion and GraniteShares. The SEC has reinforced its scruples for inadequate "price manipulation" in an insufficiently large BTC derivatives market.

September 5th^th Business Insider reports "false news" that Goldman Sachs is abandoning his plan to open a cryptocurrency trading desk. Martin Chavez, Goldman Sachs Chief Financial Officer, hastened to refute the news: "I would never have thought of using this term, but I really must describe this news as false news". The CFO said that Goldman is working on a kind of bitcoin derivative because "customers want it".

September 9th^th The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issues an order to suspend the trading of notes exchanged with Bitcoin Tracker One and Ether Tracker One, issued by XBT Provider AB, a Swedish subsidiary of US company CoinShares Holdings. The SEC cited a "confusion among market participants" based in the United States on the nature of financial instruments as the motivation for the transfer.

September 18th^th A report by the British Treasury Committee urges the need to regulate the "Wild West" industry of cryptocurrencies to protect investors. The committee stated that there are no well-functioning cryptocurrencies and preferred to call them "cryptographic resources". "Currently cryptocurrency investors offer minimal risk protection protection, which means that there are no formal mechanisms for redressing consumers or compensating them," said the committee.

September 20th^th An exchange of cryptocurrencies licensed in Japan, Zaif is hacked into a $ 60 million Bitcoin theft. The exchange said it had noticed for the first time an unusual flow of funds on the platform around 17:00, Japan time, on September 14, after which the company suspended deposits and withdrawal services. The exchange also filed the incident as a criminal case for local authorities for further investigation.

21 September^st Ripple (XRP) increases by almost 50% within 24 hours to overthrow Ether as a second cryptocurrency by total market capitalization following news on the imminent launch of its new product, xRapid, which could help banks accelerate transactions using XRP.

September 25th^th Google partially cancels the ban on cryptocurrency advertising and plans to allow regulated cryptographic exchanges to buy ads in the United States and Japan with the new policy that will come into effect in October.

September 26th^th The Beijing-based cryptanalute mining giant Bitmain presents an application for listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEX). The long-awaited prospectus of the initial public offering (IPO) of Bitmain follows various news that the mining giant is mulling a listing of Hong Kong for a multi-million dollar public funding.

October 14th^th Tether LLC, the issuer of the controversial pithged cryptocurrency Tether (USDT) of USD, pulls out the $ 300 million value of the "stablecoin" from circulation. The next day, the USDT loses its dollar peg, trading at $ 0.85 on some exchanges.

October 15th^th The financial services giant Fidelity, which manages more than $ 7.2 trillion in customer assets, announces a new separate company called Fidelity Digital Asset Services. The company will manage the custody of cryptocurrencies as bitcoins and will execute multi-platform transactions for investors such as hedge funds and family offices.

October 16th^th Concerned about the domain of Bitcoins in China, Donald Trump's White House is interested in wave adoption (XRP), according to Ripple Labs chief strategist, Cory Johnson. "The White House, in particular, seems to think about what it means to have the 80% of the bitcoin mines in China and most of the aether mines that take place in China." With XRP, there is no mining, so from an aspect of foreign control and environmental aspect, XRP is a very different beast, "Johnson said.

23 October^rd HTC launches a phone focused on the blockchain, Exodus 1, equipped with a secure micro operating system, kept separate from the Android operating system (SO) of the phone, to contain the private keys of the user. HTC's decentralized manager, Phil Chen, said the importance of integrating blockchain technology into the phone is that it enhances the security and privacy of a user's resources and will help protect data and the future. Identity of a customer.

October 31st^st Ten years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto sent his Bitcoin whitepaper to the Cryptography mailing list with the message: "I worked on a new, fully peer-to-peer electronic cash system, with no trusted third parties." he started the Bitcoin journey.

1 November^st The American Investment Bank, Morgan Stanley, publishes a report that classifies Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a "new class of institutional investment". The relationship is in stark contrast to a previous January report that referred to Bitcoin as a "controversial object and a speculative fashion".

3 November^rd The Winklevoss twins accuse Charlie Shrem of stealing Bitcoin worth $ 32 million. According to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in the United States, the twin brothers accuse Shrem of spending millions of dollars (24 million pounds) due from 2012 to finance his lavish lifestyle.

November 5th^th Fake Elon Musk's Twitter accounts promote Bitcoin scams. Multiple verified Twitter accounts are hacked to impersonate Elon Musk, with one collecting around $ 170,000. Highlighting the incompetence of Twitter in addressing the problem, the tweets also bear a "promoted" tag, which indicates scammers paid on Twitter to promote scams.

November 15th^th The Bitcoin Cash blockchain divides following a controversial hard fork, resulting in two different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin Cash SV. Most market participants show support for Bitcoin Cash ABC.

November 18th^th Switzerland approves the first ETP Bitcoin with $ HODL ticker. The ETP, offered by Amun Crypto, a fintech company based in the United Kingdom, will operate on the Swiss market of the Swiss Stock Exchange. According to Amun Hany Rashwan's executive, "The Amun ETP will offer institutional investors limited to investing only in securities or will not want to establish custody for the exposure of digital assets to cryptocurrencies while providing access to investors retailers that do not have access to cryptographic exchanges due to local regulatory impediments ".

November 21st^st The ICE postpones the launch of Bakkt. The Atlanta-based company announced that its Bakkt trading platform will be postponed, with a target date of January 24, 2019. "Given the volume of interest in Bakkt and the work required to get all the pieces in place, we will now focus on January 24, 2019, for our launch to ensure that our participants are ready to trade the first day, "said Kelly Loeffler, CEO of Bakkt.

November 26th^th Ohio creates an official website to allow companies to pay taxes with Bitcoin. The key to the movement is the state treasurer Josh Mandel, who can direct his office to accept Bitcoin without the approval of the legislature or the governor. Taxes must be filed via OhioCrypto.com. Mandel said the plan for this initiative is for Ohio to "plant a flag" in the broader adoption of Bitcoin.

December 1st^st The G20, the international forum of the top 20 economies in the world, agrees to introduce cryptocurrency regulations in accordance with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to counter money laundering and financial terrorism.

December 4th^th Cryptocurrency exchange ErisX collects $ 27.5 million from investors including Fidelity Investments and Nasdaq Ventures. ErisX states that it will offer investors the opportunity to exchange Bitcoin, litecoin and ether cryptocurrencies on the spot and forward markets starting next year, subject to regulatory approval.

December 6th^th Bitcoin plunges to its lowest price in 15 months, trading more than $ 3400 on some exchanges. The move marks a continuation of the sell-off due to the Bitcoin violation of the annual support of about $ 6,000 approximately three weeks ago.

December 13th^th Basis, an Intangible Labs cryptocurrency project, announced in April that it has raised $ 133 million from a slew of high-profile investors, says it will close the funds and return funds to supporters because of regulatory concerns. "Unfortunately, having to apply US securities regulation to the system has had a serious negative impact on our ability to launch Basis," said Intangible Labs managing director Nader Al-Naji in a blog post.

December 14th^th The US government confirms emails of bomb threats that require Bitcoin from organizations and suggests measures to be taken. According to the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), e-mails claim that a device will explode unless a bitcoin ransom is paid. The NCCIC has advised citizens that if they receive one of the bomb emails they should not try to contact the sender or pay the ransom.

December 21st^st Bloomberg reports that Facebook is developing a way to use cryptocurrency to transfer money to WhatsApp messenger. Instead of using Bitcoin, Facebook plans to use a self-issued stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.

December 31st^st Bakkt announces the completion of the first round of financing, raising $ 182.5 million from 12 partners and investors including Microsoft, Galaxy Digital and PayU. L'amministratore delegato di Bakkt Kelly Loeffler ha scritto in un post sul blog che la startup stava lavorando a stretto contatto con la Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) degli Stati Uniti per far approvare i propri piani di Bitcoin fisicamente stabiliti all'inizio del 2019: "Le aziende e i clienti hanno continuato a unirsi a noi mentre lavoravamo verso l'approvazione CFTC. Abbiamo fatto grandi progressi a dicembre e continueremo a far parte dei clienti in attesa del via libera ".

Cosa ci aspetta in avanti nel 2019?

Ora non posso parlare per nessun altro, specialmente non gli 'esperti' che sono propensi a pontificare le loro profezie sull'azione dei prezzi, ma non ho intenzione di fingere di avere una sfera di cristallo.

In ogni caso, è giunto il momento per noi di smettere di chiedere cosa potrebbe accadere e iniziare a discutere su cosa dovrebbe accadere e come ci arriveremo? Andando avanti, l'attenzione dovrebbe essere sull'utilità e sul decentramento non qualificato.

Una grande idea senza utilità non è così grande

Thomas Edison è forse il più grande innovatore della storia. C'è molto da imparare da lui, ma che ne dici di questo piccolo aneddoto sull'utilità per cominciare?

Ogni volta che il Congresso degli Stati Uniti votava una proposta, a ciascun senatore veniva richiesto di alzarsi in piedi e chiamare il suo voto. Edison ha trovato questo inefficiente e inutilmente dispendioso in termini di tempo.

Andò avanti e inventò un sistema di riscontro automatico. Ma quando lo portò al Congresso, con sua grande costernazione, la sua invenzione fu presa a sbrigativo. Questo fece arrabbiare Edison, maledicendo i senatori per non aver capito quanto tempo e sforzo il suo sistema avrebbe potuto risparmiarli.

In seguito, Edison si rese conto di non aver tenuto conto delle esigenze del suo cliente target. Il processo di votazione ha comportato un sacco di atteggiamenti e ostruzionismo. I senatori non avrebbero mai intrattenuto l'efficienza del tempo a spese della politica del Congresso.

Molte delle recenti interpretazioni della blockchain sono colpevoli dello stesso errore: costruire qualcosa che sembra una grande idea sul whitepaper senza riguardo per l'utilità.

Ethereum, spesso criticato per la sua blockchain gonfia, ha più dappus distribuito sulla sua blockchain di quanto non ci siano gli utenti per tutti i dapps combinati. Il repository GitHub iperattivo di Ethereum non rappresenta un valore se tutto lo sviluppo non riesce a comportare utilità.

Il lavoro da solo non crea mai valore. Il valore è una conseguenza dell'utilità. Puoi lavorare duro su qualcosa che alla fine risulta essere inutile.

Blockchain non è la rivoluzione, Bitcoin lo è

Ripple è fantastico, vero? Voglio dire, è veloce, senza attriti e tutto quel jazz, che si riempie di banche e cose del genere.

Un amico, che non ha altro che interesse superficiale nelle criptovalute, ha recentemente ricevuto il vento di Ripple, mi ha chiamato e mi ha chiesto di cosa si trattasse. Quando ho spiegato come Ripple ha funzionato e cosa stava cercando di realizzare, ha semplicemente scherzato con aria interrogativa, "Come sono riusciti a vendere questo alla gente come una sorta di rivoluzione decentralizzata come Bitcoin?"

Questa è una bella domanda. Come siamo diventati così persi da voler sradicare il sistema bancario imperfetto, anacronistico e disonesto e l'economia fiatiana per essere esagerati su un "protocollo" palesemente centralizzato, con il fine ultimo di perpetuare il sistema bancario basato sul solo criteri che utilizza una blockchain?

È incredibile quante persone che sono investite in criptovalute non siano consapevoli del fatto che le blockchain private sono vecchie, non immutabili o a prova di manomissione e certamente non fidate. La blockchain privata è un'idea di vent'anni e anche allora, era morta nella vite in quanto non offriva vantaggi rispetto ai registri di dati esistenti. Ripple protocol itself has been around since 2004. The recent interest in Ripple is simply a consequence of an inconsequential commonality with Bitcoin – use of blockchain.

Decentralization of money is not merely about fast transactions, but primarily about rooting out the moral hazards that inhere within fractional reserve banking and the perpetual cycle of overspending, endless credit, inevitable collapse, followed by continual bailouts for the 1% who continue to screw over the 99% because it's the latter that bears the brunt.

“I don't believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government, that is, we can't take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can't stop. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments ” – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian Economist

Any compromise on decentralization is not worth wasting our efforts on. This includes delegated protocols like EOS and Tron involving third-party validating nodes, centralized exchanges where assets are traded and wallets where assets are held.

Even trading decentralized currencies and assets against centralized currencies, such as stable coins, is a compromise of decentralization. Absolute decentralization is also the only way to avert market manipulation. If we’re going to delegate trust to third parties, we might as well keep trusting banks and governments.

Cryptocurrency most important areas for improvement over the next few years:
* More secure storage (key management)
* Trust-minimized (decentralized) exchanges
* Make 2nd layers more user-friendly, especially via automated routing, while not overly sacrificing trust minimization

— Nick Szabo 🔑 (@NickSzabo4) April 24, 2018

As long as we continue to seek unyielding progress on these fronts, 2019 promises to be the year of the great recovery.