Feeling It: Cryptocurrency Consumer Goods And 2020 Vision
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The narrative is all about how 2018 was a terrible year for crypto. And yes, the market correction after a false bubble always gets people. But it’s not a sign of the failure of crypto – the industry grew while the market shrank.
I spent 2018 researching the ever-changing top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
By the end of 2018, I finally reinvested in crypto (I dabbled in BTC and LTC in their early years) and had a slew of crypto-themed socks and coins.
These days I’m flossin in my blue-collar Lambo (read: the 2011 Ford Fusion my paychecks afford me) and an upgraded one-bedroom apartment in a nicer part of town.
But it’s not just personal fortune that gives me hope for crypto and blockchain moving toward 2020.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain are on the verge of breaking through and becoming ‘real’…
You Can’t Floss a Bitcoin
There’s a reason we focus more on the markets than anything else – it’s how we all judged Bitcoin, whether we like to admit it or not. But besides buying a Lambo and renting Mike Tyson’s old Las Vegas mansion, everyone found it hard to show off their newfound crypto fortunes.
Like an E! True Hollywood Story of lottery winners, child celebrities, and other new money, people went to zany extremes to “feel” rich with their newfound wealth.
Even I found it hard to explain my newfound enthusiasm in crypto. Blockchain, trust systems, mining algorithms, forks, and distributed ledgers don’t make for interesting holiday conversations. I mostly just smile and talk about the weather.
Bitcoin made real people real money. Crypto and blockchain are real markets with real technological innovations, products, and services.
But I didn’t have anything real I could show people. I could only talk about it, and the Snowflake Generation is known for being all talk. We live in a “pics or it didn’t happen” society, and the graphs were only cool pics to show people when they were skyrocketing upward in an unnatural way.
It was in the weeks following CES 2019 that I came up with the answer – consumer products.
It’s Real If You Can Touch It
Reality is a great philosophical debate. What’s real, anyway?
As a bank whistleblower, my debate against the reality of economics is this: it won’t hurt as much if I throw economics in your face, as it would if tossed a rock at you.
Some people don’t even believe space is real because they haven’t seen it. You’re never going to convince a flat-earther about the utility of PoS over PoW.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain have thousands of use-cases, but what I believe will be the breakout star through 2020 are the consumer goods. Here’s a quick rundown of what I’ve been pulling in over the past few months to get hands-on with:
Hardware and Cold Wallets
OpenDime
Ledger Nano S
Trezor Model T
ARCHOS Safe-T
SecuX W20
Denarium Bitcoin
D’Cent
BitBox
Crypto Seed/Key Storage
Cryptosteel
Blockplate
ColdTi
Yubico Yubikey
Crypto Key Stack
Billfodl
This isn’t even close to all of them. There are also cards, phones, and so much more crypto gear on the way.
In fact, if you make any physical crypto products, send them my way – I’m working on more video content, and those work great. You can reach me at [email protected] or on social media, or in our Telegram group.
Because I’ll be adding these products to my cryptocurrency intro guide load to make sure we introduce the world to these physical products. More are popping up all the time, and sooner or later, one of these products is going to become iconic.
It’ll show up in movies and on popular YouTube feeds. Everyone will own one. Each release will be heralded like the next Galaxy or iPhone.
That doesn’t necessarily mean these companies are going to generate the type of revenue B2B enterprise-grade blockchains will. They’ll just become the public face – the mascot that Bitcoin only is in spirit.
Mickey Mouse may be the face of Disney, but it’s Disneyland and those Mickey scalps everyone wears (s/o to Norm Macdonald).
I’ve been investing in cryptocurrencies since late December, and the market has been great to me. I have a lot to smile about. When people ask why, I pull out a shiny object and let them hold it as I explain how much deeper the rabbit hole goes than Bitcoin.
It’s my Goldilocks zone between the douchebaggery of showing them a Lambo, or giving a speech on abstract tech and finance topics.
I suggest you try it.
The author is invested in digital assets, including Bitcoin and Litecoin, which are mentioned in this article.
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