Many of my colleagues and followers on social media have recently started reaching out. Many have shown their grand – and sometimes reckless – interest in modern digital cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Their questions and inquiries have always centered around the million-dollar question. If I recommend investing in cryptocurrencies, well, that’s a big one to answer, and it’s a commitment.
When the word blockchain has got you mixed up
I address this in many of the conversations that I have with my followers. I hope these items will serve you well if you are ever interested in technology investment. When talking about modern digital currencies, cryptocurrencies, or just decentralization in general, the bar is generally really high.
The fact of the matter is that investment discussions require specific skills to ensure a successful one. It gets more challenging with time. A great example of this is the concept of blockchain, which is one of the most core and popular decentralization technologies out there that will ultimately change how the world operates.
The concept of decentralization is not new, but its new face and implementation, the mighty “blockchain”, has gained an enormous reputation. The general mass has mixed thoughts on the tech and its applications, given the promises circling around. Let’s clear some here.
The decentralization bet
Decentralization has a simple goal to achieve: to build modern systems that pull the control carpet down from your typical central institutions – the commercial ones most of the time. The goal is to return that control and power to the ultimate beneficiary: the user, you, my dear.
Suppose you are interested in investing in the field of cryptocurrencies. In that case, it is necessary to comprehend the advantages and shortcomings of this world of decentralization, particularly the blockchain. Many misconceptions might make your investment vulnerable from the get-go, so tread carefully and listen well.
One of the most critical foundations of investing in these currencies is to seriously and objectively search for the authentic and intrinsic value of the project you’re about to invest in. Many projects have no connection to reality whatsoever, neither as a timeline or just mere value. This is the most substantial reason the blockchain has a bad rep. The amount of projects that exploit the naiveness of the modern investor is just horrendous.
Going down the rabbit hole
To analyze the projects and ascertain their importance, you must ask the individuals who resemble real users for the projects. This will turn out to be one of the best decisions you make in your investment journey since these projects do not serve the technical community alone. These projects benefit the actual users that almost always have different agendas and goals. Pairing up with these people will be an effective way to ensure the value of these projects beforehand and perhaps is the only correct way to do so. It’s generally always the case that things that fall under the category of “must-have” sustain the test of time better than the items that fall under the “nice to have” class. Vet on your own and take your time when you have the luxury.
The seriousness and the qualifications of the project team is also a defining factor in your research. Check their backgrounds and their interviews. Do they have the technology background and portfolio to back their claims? Ensure the project and the crew respect the timeline, which has to be realistic and far from the candy-dandy kind. The team has to understand the technical challenges of the implementation, especially items such as scalability and security.
This is not a shocker, but the cryptocurrency world is full of broken promises. Search for BitConnect on Google or YouTube to believe me in case you’re full of doubt.
The roadmap of cryptoscrutiny
Modern investors must educate themselves in computing, as the technological world is the medium of giving life to these ideas. Dear investor, your duty is to expand your computer awareness whenever you can to comprehend what you’re about to put your money in. These skills will serve you well in areas that are just too long to list here.
The world of decentralization is demanding. A good example is to explore the Python programming language. Learning it will not cost you two hours on a good day, and however, it will serve you well for many years, especially when vetting the software stack of these projects.
Technology is a mere way to translate ideas. And one of our most important responsibilities for us, as individuals and investors, is to validate these ideas’ at the technical and business levels, that is before you dedicate your economic power to translate these ideas into tanglible reality. Make sure you dig deep into each project before you put your money.
The dawn of autonomy
The world of decentralization will take humanity to the world of digital freedom, which we desperately need. Just remember the recent privacy invasions that showed us the extent of this, as many commercial institutions (such as Facebook) go for miles to get to your data.
User privacy is just a commercial term being thrown to mislead customers in this age. It is being thrown to cover for the appalling activities of these too-big-to-fail harvesting businesses and to make you sleep at night.
It’s time for us to take charge. Privacy is one of your lost rights, and decentralization is your means to obtain this right.