When the famous Satoshi Nakamoto first designed his masterpiece, few could possibly have imagined the almost $63,500 peak that sent investors into a frenzy.
Ray Dalio raised fair points in his critique of Bitcoin, arguing that uncertainties regarding how governments will react to digital assets supplanting fiat currency in utilization are causes for potential concern down the road.
Ether, the second closest coin in value to Bitcoin, continued hitting new all-time highs throughout April, validating not just the coin’s potential as a store of value asset but also Ethereum’s potential as a blockchain network.
Similar to Ethereum, a number of projects aimed to emulate the titan that Vitalik Buterin and his associates built, such as Cardano, EOS and, most recently, the hot and popular Polkadot.
Regardless of the blockchain projects and their creative names, they’ve spurred on an ecosystem of collaborative development.
The flourishing of coins and DApps serves up plenty of optimism to many outsiders looking in, offering hope that there is real potential to foster a booming decentralized finance ecosystem — or at least a hybrid of it combined with centralized markets.
What drove the inquisitiveness of investors, developers and crypto enthusiasts alike was the appeal of Bitcoin as a store of value.
While discussions about Ethereum, Polkadot and other blockchain platforms caught the attention of the DeFi world, many outsiders remained numb to them and fixated on the coin prices.
According to a Cardify survey, only 16.9% of crypto investors “fully understand” it, while just over 33% of them have limited or “zero knowledge.” Over 40% of crypto investors are newbies who are riding the hype wave.
Moreover, institutional investors remain wary of the volatility issues facing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with ongoing predictions of an imminent bubble — another signal that underlying blockchain technologies are less of a priority.