Crypto Update: Is It Advancing Yet?
Bad news may be good news, but not enough to cover developments. Here's an update on cryptocurrency since we paused coverage six months ago.
Photo Credit: AS/COA
It’s been a bit over six months since we paused coverage on cryptocurrency as one of the exponential growth technology areas. We made this decision due to holes in the three fundamental areas it must have to become a viable product.
Since the price of some cryptocurrencies have risen over 50 percent (with Bitcoin up around 85 percent since the beginning of the year), now might be the time to initiate coverage again. But whether this is just a dead cat speculative bounce in value or a true rise due to fundamentals, it truly depends on the ability of the crypto market to have solid grounding in the three areas we mentioned six months ago. Here is what we see now in these areas.
1. Utility
There has been pretty much no change from six months ago with El Salvador still the only true country embracing crypto as an alternate currency and very few large product manufactures or retail chains expanding. Therefore, there are still very limited ways to use crypto.
2. Scalability
We have seen no real change in banks or credit institutions moving ahead with ways to use Bitcoin. Therefore, we can’t predict where or when crypto will scale in the future, and we don’t think it will occur any time soon.
3. Security
Last year, 2022, appeared to be the most fraudulent year in crypto regarding a multitude of exchanges being hacked. Little has changed so far in 2023, with records of 50 million to 100 million frauds being reported monthly. Therefore, we don’t see improvement in this area yet either.
Overall, we don’t believe we can add any value to your knowledge of crypto by explaining the pros and cons of this market. It seems to us that no matter the price, the fundamentals haven’t advanced enough to create a valid use for people to use or invest in cryptocurrency yet. For this reason, our coverage of this category will remain paused.
Best,
Craig for the Don’t Count Us Out Yet Team