I've been studying this technology for so long I forget or just assume that people have not been following this as long and know what I know as it's warped my sense of reality. Some part of me just assumes you all already know what is coming. I have to remind myself that most people are going to be blindsided by what's ahead.
How many things in the world did the internet 'eat'? Video rentals, postal service, land lines. libraries, bookstores, entertainment venues, video games. travel agencies, printed newspapers, and magazines, It changed just about everything that involved data. It gave people the right to publish themselves and be heard or just as important as the all powerful media giants that ruled up until the late 90s.
What will blockchain 'eat'? In particular - ethereum?
I found this video on YouTube which does a great job to really speak to this and puts ethereum possibilities into a different light. I share much of his story about the origins of ethereum and how it happened in the beginning. Sending our bitcoin and getting nothing but an email with a small file that said - 'thanks - hold onto this tiny txt file as it might be worth something some day. It would be well over a year before that small file could do anything. For me, it was the content seed of the first 2,000 tokens of ether exchanged in their Initial Coin Offering to crowdfund their effort to creation this 'thing'. From such a simple beginning so innocent that I had to make sure I saved somewhere that I wouldn't forget about just in case it turned into a 'thing'.
They were actually a little more careful that you saved that tiny attachment, they verified you copied it to a Google drive or dropbox so it was stored in at least two locations, and it was encrypted with the password you used when you sent your bitcoin. People don't realize now that this was just a gamble. The creator of ethereum gave it only a 10% chance of working. But if it could work - it would change the world. I put up $500 in the form of one bitcoin to be included and convinced two friends to join me. Part of me wrote it off. But the other part - that I tried to ignore for over a year, held my breath that it would work. The two friends and I made a pact to not spend them until and unless they became worth a million dollars. So I haven't even been tempted yet. A pact is a pact.
Many these days just think it's another currency replacement token, funny money, tulip bulbs, a fad, a joke, and that it will all come crashing down. They fail to grasp what this means and what is already set in motion. The paradigm is being swept away for almost all you know. The ripple effects will change borders and the 19-year-old hacker who started it all has now sat before kings and presidents. Some of the world's biggest banks and companies of the world now court his opinion. Yet he remains obsessive about his creation.
Almost nobody can yet comprehend what has started. And you were here to witness it. Hopefully little posts like this help to put this into perspective.
It started much earlier that getting a simple email with a simple attachment that almost nobody would understand the significance of why it will likely soon be worth more than $1 million. Yet the network is less than two years old. It still has a few years and revisions to go before it is even considered production. It is already being used to deliver food for the UN, and launch hundreds of new companies that will be the 'internet' of the next generations. Nearing one million dollars, and that portion is still embryonic.
$400 dollar ether - and the boat hasn't even left the harbor yet. Imagine what it will be worth when it starts eating governments. People wonder how high ether can go in the next year. At this time last year a bitcoin was about $400. It has since touched $3,000 and it was in no way about to 'eat governments, laws, contracts and act basis of a new generation of business and internet'.
$3,000 by next summer? In my sleep. $10,000 sometime next year? I'd bet on it - and keep in mind - it sill won't be in 'production' even then. Only around 100 million will be created before it switches modes in a way where there will no longer need incentives for the nodes by creating new ethereum to stay running.
Not even one out of three US citizens currently alive would be able to own a full one, less than one in a hundred if distributed equally. Owning even one hundredth of one may one day be seen as unbelievable wealth to our children and grandchildren.
You ain't seen nothing yet.
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