The Cryptocurrency industry has been rollercoaster ride the last two years and the entire industry is under close scrutiny now.
The 2017-18 market boom was followed by a number of scams and Ponzi schemes coming to light, trying to ride the hype-train to raise millions of dollars in dead funding.
Real projects with actual value found it difficult to be seen and get a hold on with the kind of pollution that this space was dealing with, a rotting combination of unfeasible ideas and illegitimate teams. Many of these legitimate projects decided to retreat completely from blockchain and crypto and wait it out as the industry peaked, fell and then settled down again.
The entire debacle that was the last two years have resulted in fingers being pointed and questions being raised, the loudest of which raises doubts about the feasibility of crypto in the real world. But the answer is not clear cut, though the world had recognized the potential of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies, the people who jumped at the opportunity had grand ideas and ambitions for their ecosystems, but hardly anyone had established a network of people who would participate and could be counted on.
So as it stands, if you’re in the space to get rich quick, this is probably not the best time for you, and you’re probably gonna lose. But if you’re here for the long haul, then you’ve got a bright future ahead.
Civilized Again
Remember the ICO ‘Wild West’, the fundamentally decentralized nature of initial coin offerings and a worrying lack of proper regulations had made the ICO scene famous for bad actors.
2017’s “Year of the ICO” saw over $6 billion worth of ICO’s across 875 different token sales, leaving regulators scrambling to develop function frameworks to control the situation. But it turned out the boom wasn’t sustainable, studies by ICO advisory firm Statis Group published a year later showed some worrying statistics, over 70 percent of all initial coin offerings launched in 2017 were identified as scams.
Investor sentiment toward token sales remains extremely positive even though the early 2018 initial coin offering ecosystem was was marred by a large number of exit scams and outright fraudulent platforms, all this despite more than half of all ICOs not making it past four months of launch. The duatry though seems to be regaining as the 2018 ICOs raised a massive $7.8 billion across over 1,200 different projects, a sign of trust if we ever saw one.
Crypto winter has turned out to be beneficial for organizations contrary to popular belief, which, instead of riding on the crypto frenzy like the past, has taken a sustainable, mature and customer-focused approach.
The Future
If we are to label the Wild West Phase 1, marked by a striking lack of maturity in thinking an abundance of enthusiasm and topped with a complete lack of regulations. Phase 2 paints a completely different picture.
The crash the market suffered was apparent to anyone who was familiar with the business. But the rest of the community was blinded by the hype as expectations went through the roof. While a stubborn few foolishly gambled.
Change is afoot in the industry as new regulatory framework is driven by nuanced ICO regulation that keeps the latest generation of initial coin offerings in check, led by blockchain-friendly countries such as Switzerland and Malta.
Regulatory bodies such as the US SEC and Australian Securities and Investment Commission are making sure that the 2019 ICO market turns out nothing like the ‘Wild West’ market of 2017. These organizations are paving the way for a new generation of authentic, transparent, and legal token sales by providing comprehensive regulatory and legal guidance on the launch and operation of compliant initial coin offerings.
And while it’s true that the general public is markedly underwhelmed or even apprehensive to the point it may not make sense, this just means the legitimate players will have an easier time gaining recognition and rising up, this is Phase 2 – The Crypto Revolution we’ve all been waiting for.
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