Disappointment or not? This is what many people are asking themselves when reviewing the year behind our backs. The right question to ask right now is – did 2019 truly deliver everything that was expected in the crypto industry?
While the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were expected to go higher, so did may other things. Below, we are reviewing some of the biggest disappointments in the industry in 2019.
Adoption: Still Missing?
It seems like the giant blockchain and crypto projects are still missing. As the analyst Nouriel Roubini noted last year, “Blockchain still has only one application – cryptocurrencies.” A lot of people in the industry are still waiting and we cannot draw much comfort from Forbes and its list of top 50 tech firms.
Did 2019 bring us a flagship application? The answer is “not really” – the industry is still looking for one.
Institutions Are Still Skeptical About Crypto
DApps, scalability and institutional adoption are often cited as the three missing ingredients that are required for blockchain to reach the tipping point in public acceptance. Did 2019 deliver on these?
Again, not really. With regard to institutions, some progress was made – but still far from what we expected to see in the blockchain news.
Consumer Adoption Lags
A lot of experts agree that usability must improve before the wider public adopts crypto and blockchain networks. According to the CEO of Bitpay Stephen Pair, rapid progress in the consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies needs to be seen now – “and more adoption because it got easier to use,” as he told the media.
“Like not having to deal with Bitcoin addresses directly. If we could just solve some simple problems like that, ideally in an industry standard way, that could make a difference,” Pair also said when asked did 2019 deliver on the premises of adoption.
The Bitpay CEO also believes that people tend to spend BTC when prices are high, often purchasing expensive and luxury items – compared to paying their bills or buying everyday items.
Compliance
Last but not the least is compliance, which is still an afterthought in parts of the crypto and blockchain world. In late November, the security firm CipherTrace reported that around 65% of the top 120 crypto exchanges lacked strong Know Your Customer policies.
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