We are in the midst of yet another Cambrian explosion; only this time, unlike the original one around half a billion years ago, it is cryptocurrency and not living organisms that are propagating with wild abandon across the globe.
October 2014 is personally significant, as that is the period of time when I bought my first Bitcoin. Back then I simply used it to get a 33% discount on a product I was buying online.
However @bleepcoin's advice to me, to save some of the Bitcoin I was buying and to acquire more cryptos, seeped treacle like, slowly oozing its way through my brain for approximately 18 months until not long before the advent of Steemit.
Aha!
That was my lightbulb moment, the point at which I understood the benefit of immersing myself in the world of crypto. It is a point in time that will be forever dear to me as it signifies my joining the cryptorevolution.
When I think back to that almost forgotten, magical and misty time (March[ish] 2016), I remember that there was only one crypto worth more than a dollar, and that was Bitcoin itself.
Explosion
Shortly before Steemit, I remember hanging out in a Doge chatroom that Bleep had introduced me to. I felt priviliged to be part of this unseen subculture that was developing and growing in front of my very eyes.
Whilst I don't recall all of the terms and lingo that the inhabitants of the Doge chat were using. One in particular sticks in mind.
To The Moon!
Going to the moon was the term the Dogers used to describe the journey towards the 1-for-1 moment. The point at which one Dogecoin, would be worth one US Dollar.
Getting to the moon, not just for Dogers, was thought of as a significant point, because it would prove to all participants and observers, that cryptocurrency was not only here to stay, but here to play a major part in the unfolding economic history of the human race.
Then Along Came Eth
If my memory serves me correctly, it was Ethereum that was to be the first moonshot coin. The young upstart of a coin offered itself through a then unheard of Initial Coin Offering and promptly jumped to a dollar and beyond.
Who was this young upstart; this ne'er do well? I asked myself? How dare it think itself more worthy than the mighty US Dollar? It was this kind of attitude that saw me miss out on an opportunity to obtain Eth at a price that would by now, have made me a very rich man.
Now of course we have dozens of cryptos that will cost you more than a buck to acquire a single one, so now the moon is perhaps $100, or maybe even $1000. Perhaps now it is the sun we are shooting for.
What Gives?
So seeing as we are part of this living breathing historical moment, it probably pays to analyse and ponder the question; why now?.
What has happened, or is happening to explain the explosion in value that we are experiencing right now?
Back in the day, we saw umpteen coins jump into existence, reach the height of mere pennies, and then disappear back to zero.
It seems those times have passed, and my question is why; what gives? Is it merely an adoption issue? As in the more people who accept there is value in crypto, the higher the value soars?
Or perhaps it is the tipping point of global hyper-inflation of fiat currencies that are based on debt and war?
Or maybe a combination of these factors and others yet unseen . . .