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<h3>Bitcoin has always been the dominant leader within the cryptocurrency space, but with all of the new projects bound to come out in the next few years is it possible it will be another cryptocurrency or project to first achieve success?</h3>
<p>Bitcoin appears to have gained additional support within the past couple of hours, and appears to be heading in an upward direction once again. This is a great feeling and indicator that interest and investment is coming into the cryptocurrency market, but people still argue as to whether Bitcoin is actually valuable enough to demand such a high price level. I have always been and still am a major supporter of Bitcoin, but so far in 2017 it seems that the investment and interest in Bitcoin is coming much faster than the advancements to the Bitcoin network. Many may argue that the new interest has made Bitcoin more valuable in the short term, and while that is true it still doesn't necessarily give any indication of Bitcoin achieving long term success. While abundant capital flooding to the market has been great for those of us who bought in at significantly lower levels, it may be creating a market with the potential to become a bubble. </p>
<p>I'm not saying that we are currently in a Bitcoin bubble, but rather that if this level and speed of investment continues in the Bitcoin market it may create a bubble. Bitcoin being used as a commodity such as 'digital gold' or another store of value has potential to continue for the long term, but for the purpose of a practical and efficient way to transfer funds Bitcoin will likely run into serious issues. While the Bitcoin network is seeing abundant activity with the recent increase in interest, the activity level is still drastically below what the activity level would likely be if Bitcoin was adopted as a currency. For a platform to be able to succeed as a means of transferring value, the network would likely need to support upwards of a million transactions a minute after mainstream adoption. Because of the core technology that Bitcoin was built upon, the network would never be able to handle that level of network activity without a fundamental change to the underlying technology. </p>
<p>https://www.mosinvesting.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/shutterstock_134247623.jpg</p>
<p>I actually bet that the price of Bitcoin is going to continue for the upcoming months, while I am not confident of that I think its the most probable scenario. Although I hope the value continues to increase, I am personally choosing to hold all of my excess holdings in the form of USDT until I withdrawal funds or increase my position in other coins. Just because the price will continue to increase doesn't mean that the market is not becoming a bubble, it simply means that the market hasn't yet lost its support. The market may be able to correct and adjust back down to a more sustainable level, but if not I see the most likely scenario is the creation of a bubble. A price increase of over 400% since last year coupled with very little changes in technical ability is unsettling, especially because transactions are actually more expensive and slower than what they were 12 months ago.</p>
<h3>Blockchain technology can go so far beyond cryptocurrencies. </h3>
<p>While most people still think of blockchain technology as a technology used to 'power' and store data about cryptocurrencies, the true power of blockchain technology hasn't even come close to being unleashed yet. The increasing interest in projects like Ethereum indicate that individuals are searching more a more practical blockchain platform with enhanced use cases. While Ethereum may or may not achieve long term success, the increased interest and investment in the project indicates that firms and businesses may finally be ready to begin to embrace and utilize blockchain technology. While there are some businesses that have implemented Bitcoin in some way, it is only because of the fact that they had the desire to rather than for practicality. </p>
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<p>Social media has become such an important thing for companies in today's world, and companies are always actively searching for ways and methods to set themselves apart from their competitors. What is a better way to differentiate your company than being the first firm in your industry on the blockchain platform that gains long term success. While this is likely still awhile down the road, companies who are 'ahead of the curve' when it comes to establishing themselves on the platform will undoubtedly attract more interest and support than they would have otherwise. People who are in the cryptocurrency community recognize the importance of business presence for the future success of the technology, so the company would likely also gain a whole new diverse following. </p>
<h3>I can't help but to think about the potential for success that the upcoming EOS project has. </h3>
<p>While the project may seem similar to the Ethereum project on the surface, the more I learn about it the clearer it becomes that EOS will likely be very different. EOS will likely offer the blockchain that the people have been waiting for, and has serious potential to gain rapid success within the space. Not only will EOS be built in a very flexible and integratable way, but the underlying Graphene technology will actually be able to sustain and support the activity that would accompany long term adoption. While Ethereum attempted to deploy a platform that is flexible and practical for businesses, the technical aspects of the contracts and transactions on the Ethereum network will likely impede its chances for success. </p>
<p>https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*Hjzcm79y_IET2KSp5V-_aA.jpeg</p>
<p>The Ethereum network has a specific amount of transactions that it is able to support per second, and due to gas restrictions can't achieve an amount of transactions that exceeds 30 per second. While this is 10x the current capabilities of Bitcoin, it is still drastically lower than what it would need to be to support mainstream adoption. EOS will utilize a Graphene blockchain system, which has a greater ability to scale than any other type of blockchain system. Not only is the idea and concept of EOS great and practical, the team will likely have the actual ability to deploy it successfully. Instead of just having a concept of an application running on the Ethereum blockchain, applications could be actually up and running on the EOS blockchain several months after the project goes public. </p>
<p>While Bitcoin will always be an important part of the development of blockchain technology, I am unsure as to whether it will be able to maintain its dominance over the upcoming year. The philosophy and ideas behind Bitcoin are so powerful, but they are not exclusive to Bitcoin at this point in time. Bitcoin may always hold value as a method of storing value, but its future as a practical method of transferring value seems grim in my opinion. A cryptocurrency with the same exact properties could be deployed on a platform such as EOS, and actually be able to handle the level of activity that is required of a currency. I know that its early and the project is still awhile away but the more I learn about EOS, the more confident I become about the projects potential for success. </p>
<p><em><strong>I really hope that you enjoyed this post and I urge you to leave any comments, opinions, input, ect. below. Thanks for reading!</strong></em></p>
<p>image sources:<a href="https://www.mosinvesting.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/shutterstock_134247623.jpg">1</a>-<a href="http://invalog.com/storage/app/uploads/public/56e/f11/9a8/56ef119a8d4b3681859466.jpg">2</a>-<a href="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*Hjzcm79y_IET2KSp5V-_aA.jpeg">3</a></p>
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