Everything that has monster run ups in a short period of time usually correct themselves. Case in point, not an exact apples to apples comparison but look at the tech bubble in late 90's and early 2000 period, tons of companies had huge run ups in a short period of time but valuations were ridiculous, lots of investors lost lots of money when things got corrected.
I really have a hard time seeing the US government allowing bitcoin/cryptocurrency to be used as a mainstream currency. Tax revenue is the biggest source of government income and this means companies who accept bitcoin and have to pay taxes will be exposed to an exchange rate risk when paying the government. Allowing bitcoin to be used as a major currency will shift the paradigm of the banking industry in many ways and I don't think the big US banks and government will be so open to the change. Could it possibly happen maybe but if it does it's more likely so many years away. For bitcoin to really explode it needs to be accepted by an exchange of medium for the general population but governments aside from Japan aren't going to allow that to happen so easily. Most people I talk to are more speculative buyers and lots of speculation leads to correction or major corrections. Some people who I talk to who made a fair amount of money are unloading feeling it's time to take profits.
In terms of blockchain technology, there is something that is undervalued. In making investments you make money by buying undervalued not overvalued products. Blockchain is something practical that can be used in many different industries and creates efficiencies and can save companies money and enhance security. It's something I can envision the government and US banks incorporating, also some of the best companies will be bought out and they seem to have a fairly decent time raising capital because firms/people believe it being a profitable venture. That's why I think blockchain technology is a way better investment in the long term, less risk and it hasn't anywhere near the run up bitcoin/cryptocurrencies have and room to increase.
Also guys I know in the investment are saying blockchain is the next new big thing, they said that about bitcoin a few years back. Hopefully I'm wrong for anybody holding bitcoin or any cryptocurrency. Maybe it's just a small correction. I just feel blockchain technology is the real and better investment for many reasons.
Fyi, last time wall street made some risky investments to generate higher rates of returns for clients like investing in CDS (credit default swaps), it lead to the subprime mortgage crisis which didn't end well. So I'm pretty sure they are being really careful this time around.
yeah I think the tech bubble is a decent comparison, I mean almost all of the shitcoins and ICO's have ridiculous valuations considering almost all of them have zero use cases. but like the huge tech companies that made it, bitcoin has a chance for the value to increase dramatically due to the limited supply cheaper and more efficient ways to use it, but that doesn't mean some of the bigger coins won't become huge themselves. Most of them will just die off and the value will plummet to zero though and possibly another coin could take bitcoins place as the biggest one however.
as for the US government, they are slowly losing their status as the biggest world power and may not have much say in the matter if one day bitcoin does become mainstream, countries are starting to abandon the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. countries will jump on board long before the US. a lot of the real world use cases are for people under the poverty line sending money without the crippling transaction fees and ridiculous wait times, the global use case far outweighs 1 single country. especially when there are already many countries who are crypto friendly.
that's a good point about companies opening themselves up to exchange rates and honestly I'm no expert in that area so don't really know how it would work, but bitcoin on paper should be a lot more stable by that point in theory while the dollar could potentially be more volatile as it looses it's dominance around the world when kanye west is president.
Absolutely, for crypto to become mainstream it needs a way for the average pleb on the street to easily be able to buy it. Wouldn't a SEF like ledgerx (
https://ledgerx.com/) be a big step in that direction?
Most people I have met who talk about it are speculative buyers also but they are typically young ppl fomo'ing into something they know nothing about. the real money in crypto is already held by people who are holding it for longterm, people who trade it and people who mine it and a combination of them. that's one of the reasons why bitcoin is so interesting because traditionally governments and banks are first to the party, so they will have to pay much more to get in currently.
blockchain technology has already been supported and planned to be implemented by many governments around the world already. as is plans to make native crypto currencies. what you described about blockchain making things more efficient safe and cost effective is exactly what bitcoin will do if it becomes mainstream and people are starting to wake up to the realisation that they want control of their own money opposed to governments using it as a political tool to control the population. I sorta disagree about blockchain startups being a better investment long term when there is so much potential upside for bitcoin present day. but I guess it depends on your strategies and experience. ultimately I think they go hand in hand, if we want to improve how companies and governments are run etc, why wouldn't we want to do the same with money?
how is the sub prime mortgage crisis comparable to bitcoin though? they knew they couldn't lose out on that right? engaging in a morally suspect investment while ruining people's lives is the opposite of what bitcoin and crypto in general stands for. risk doesn't strike me as something that would stop money pouring into bitcoin because they realise how much stupid money has already beaten them to it.