The named entities or Blockchains set forth below do not represent recommendations to purchase or in any way reflect investment advice. One of the key variables that is critical for deciding to invest is missing. That variable is the current valuation of each token or asset vs the overall market, and a reasoned forecast of future performance vs the market. What is presented below attempts to inform and to encourage research, to learn about each, and to come to an opinion of whether any of them or all of them strike you as being an important participant in the future development of digital asset platforms.
May 20, 2019
Dear Crypto enthusiast and/or curious mind:
Right now is the most exciting time for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Blockchain based businesses. The market is expanding with established corporations joining the start-ups and early believers. I am as enthusiastic as I have ever been. I truly believe we are on the cusp of a rapid expansion of participants and education within the Blockchain sphere.
Over the past eight weeks I have heard speak or met with the co-founder of Ethereum, the CEO of Loopring, the CEO of Quantum, the CEO of Celsius, and the CEO of Polymath. The progress being made is significant and the leaders are aggressively developing their technologies and are partnering with many industry participants.
I am most excited by Binance. Binance or BNB is the largest centralized exchange and the most engaged with the community. Their reinvestment in their business is dramatic. They have now launched a decentralized exchange, a blockchain incubator, and a charitable foundation to help the economies in Africa (you should listen to the Binance podcast with Helen Hai, it is inspiring)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3n2Z8K8qZ4
The BNB token price is now at $29 per token, giving BNB a market capitalization of $4.2 Billion. It has increased in value by over 400% this year. To give you an idea of how this enterprise operates, two weeks ago the centralized BNB exchange was hacked for $40 million of Bitcoin. The cause was due to token holders not protecting their passwords and enabling criminals to access their accounts. In response, BNB has redesigned their controls against hackers and have made all affected accounts whole by covering their losses. The behavior of BNB management is the best in the industry. A personal letter from the CEO, “CZ”, provided a recap of the event and the actions and decisions made during the period of the Hack (I have posted it on the website for readers to access under Market Reports and Charts). The letter conveys the deep sense of community and care behind the actions taken by the BNB team. I am proud to be a part of the community that supports Binance.
Bitcoin is presently at $8,000 per coin. I expect it to challenge $20,000 before 2019 is over. Microsoft is now building a decentralized platform based on the Bitcoin blockchain. The level of adoption of the value quality and free movement of BTC across borders in near instantaneous transactions (when compared to the multiple days delay in the traditional banking system) is creating a tidal wave of adoption in the Blockchain world.
Ethereum has risen by roughly 80% so far this year. It is the platform of choice for businesses who want to build a smart contract system within their enterprise solutions. JPMorgan has adopted the Ethereum blockchain in their launch of the JP Morgan coin.
Zilliqa is a blockchain that just proved the value proposition of blockchain within industry. In Asia they partnered with WPP and Pepsi and ran a marketing campaign on their blockchain vs a traditional campaign. The blockchain campaign yielded a 28% better reach with consumers than the traditional methodology that is negatively impacted by BOTS and other false click-throughs that defeat the effectiveness of digital marketing.
DAI, is a stable coin that is matched to be equal to the US Dollar. Deposits of DAI are paying anywhere between 7% and 14% on your deposits. It is a vehicle to move fiat currency (Cash) into crypto to capture returns that are not available in the traditional banking world.
Polymath has brought in a professional CEO to run the business. I listened to him this past week and it is clear that the Polymath vision is now honed and the business is prepared to make significant progress in the Security Token industry. They have partnered with one of the founders of Ethereum, and are building a Security Exchange protocol called PolyMesh. The software platform will enable other enterprises to develop security token initiatives as well as serve as an investment bank type advisor to businesses that wish to register their tokens for public offerings of securities. Imagine the average person now being able to buy 1/1000 of a share of Amazon or Google or any other stock, bond, piece of art, real estate, etc. It is happening.
I recently purchased the HTC Exodus mobile phone. It was the first blockchain enabled phone and was soon followed by the launch of the Samsung S10, the second blockchain enabled phone. This past week, HTC announced they have partnered with Kyber Network (“KNC”) to enable token swaps on the Exodus phone through the KNC platform which gives investors the ability to move value from one blockchain enterprise to another. I used this new platform on my phone and easily exchanged Ethereum tokens for KNC tokens and for Polymath tokens. It was simple, fast and secure. The speed of adoption in the mobile phone sector is accelerating. Apple must follow this trend from a competitive perspective.
Amazon has just filed a patent for a proof of work blockchain platform.
Facebook is expected to issue its own token (an assumed stable coin) on the WhatsApp service. Additional collaborations are being hinted at to enable permissioned activity to off-ramp to public blockchains.
Jaguar Land Rover just announced it is partnering with IOTA, the internet of things peer-to-peer service for rewards that incentivize its car owners to provide data on their driving patterns. The ability to pay tolls or simply bank the token rewards for intelligence generated by your own behavior is a key return of control to the owner of the data. The benefit to future driverless car technology is a key component of interest in this initiative.
There is so much more I could write, but you get the picture. The under-the-covers adoption and build-out of the crypto-sector is moving rapidly, unnoticed by so many, yet the investing opportunity will be coming to every neighborhood. Wall Street brokerage firms are launching crypto-trading solutions, and the appetite in this area will only grow, ultimately causing institutions to allocate foundation funds, pension funds, insurance funds, etc to this emerging successful sector.
The China/Asia based platforms that are trailing from a price appreciation perspective will one day be a source of great opportunity. I met with Loopring, QTUM, and listened to Ontology and NEO. They are building fast, and when Chinese investors get government approval to invest in Blockchain businesses the market there will move higher very fast. It must be noted that China has the greatest number of patents and has made the largest financial investment in Blockchain technology. I believe it is only a matter of time before we are rewarded for our patience with these investments.
That about covers it. Learn and build on your understanding in this sector as it just may change the world.
Tom