How crypto is changing the game for investors
Just like the Internet revolution gave birth to legends like Jack Ma, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, or the Paypal Mafia, a similar pattern is being observed now with Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Its power can literally bring revolutions as big as the Internet, and just like the Internet, they are also capable of giving rise to the next generation of entrepreneurs, which is the reason VCs are ready to pour billions of dollars into the game.
Yesterday it seemed like we could not function without the Internet. Today it is passe. Enter blockchain & crypto. The Eternals are the ones that the world is looking up to for, well, almost everything. And guess what? These new entrants have brought with them another version of the super hero: NFT
NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, is a new way for creators and brands to monetize their digital content. The ERC-721 token standard, often known as Non-fungible Tokens, or NFTs, was created in 2018 by four Ethereum engineers. Digital collectibles, event tickets, in-game products, and the $6.6 million in digital art from Beeple are all examples of NFTs.
The digital assets sold as NFT are one-of-a-kind, and the reason they are generating so much interest is that they provide verifiable proof of ownership of the digital assets, and because there is no fixed value attached to them, they can be purchased or sold at any price, making them extremely flexible.
The NFT craze also brings a lot of uncertainties. It also draws distrust as some investors have labelled it risky.
However, history teaches us not to dismiss NFTs as a transitory trend, because the significance of technical advancements typically becomes obvious after the enthusiasm has died down. Many observers rejected the surge of tech businesses around the late 1990s dotcom bubble, as well as the initial wave of popular cryptocurrency optimism in 2017, only to be shown catastrophically wrong as bitcoin re-emerged.
This tendency is best depicted in Gartner’s hype cycle, which depicts the normal evolution of a modern innovation. With NFTs, we are most likely emerging from the “peak of exaggerated expectations” and on our way to the same “plateau of production” that Amazon achieved a long time ago.
You already know that NFTs aren’t the only area of progress in the crypto world. There are a lot of intriguing advancements taking place in the cryptosphere and we must talk about them as well.
Crypto Gaming (GameFi)
How does it sound that you will be rewarded while playing video games?
Crypto Games are just like any other video game but they run on Cryptocurrency networks and provide players verifiable ownership over the virtual products in the game. Players could easily trade these virtual assets with cryptocurrency, which can be later exchanged for real money.
The gaming industry is worth billions of dollars and, as per the report published by Worldwide Asset Exchange, 75% of players want to exchange their virtual assets with the currency that can be used across multiple platforms.
Travel Industry
The travel industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world and it’s a natural fit for adopting blockchain technology for a variety of reasons. The sector involves data sharing between multiple players, from flight companies to hotels, to rentals, to credit card companies and many more.
With Blockchain Technology, data gets stored in a decentralised network, making it immune to data corruption, accidental deletion, or intentional cyberattack. All information stored is secure and traceable.
The revolutionised process can also help in validating passengers’ identities or tracking missing luggage.
Crypto Banks
The universe of crypto started with Bitcoin, whose adoption across the world as a currency is increasing exponentially.
Interestingly, multiple crypto banks are also being established, which provide access to all the banking services like interest on investments, loans, and mortgages, saving account access, cross-border money transfers, and decentralised payment cards.
Sounds quite interesting right
The bonus fact is that many crypto exchanges offer options for staking, which means you can earn interest on crypto you hold for trading purposes. The annualised interest percentage varies depending on the crypto you hold, from as low as 1% to as high as 45%.
Crypto Exchanges
At the rate at which the crypto craze is growing, everyone wants to own cryptocurrency, and they need crypto exchanges to buy it. And this is the reason VCs are showing interest in investing in these startups. Even local crypto exchanges like Coin DCX managed to get $587 million of funding.
And this has just started. Crypto is influencing many more sectors and attracting huge investments.
With the number of sectors that crypto can influence, it looks like if someone misses it, the miss will be big.