Cryptocurrencies are Great! But in the End? It's ALL Dollars and Cents...

Muddling my way through my Monday morning here; haven't been checking in so often as of late — other things have been demanding my attention.

In the aftermath of yet another "crypto selloff," I find myself pondering the greater reality of this whole circus.

Are we on a little island...

Personally? I have always thought that the whole idea of cryptocurrencies was pretty awesome, but somewhere along the way, it has been somewhat misappropriated.

"Cryptocurrencies," they are called.

What is a "currency?"

Typically, a means of exchange that makes it easier for us to trade apples and iPhones and such. It's a temporary store of value.

Is this whole industry failing itself, though, because it has invented itself with almost a 100% focus on "making money" and "getting rich" by means of trading this highly speculative new type of asset?

Japanese maple leaves in the sun

Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing anyone's desire to make money... that's not my point.

My point is that people are using the currencies themselves as the way to make money, rather than using the currencies to build innovative businesses that make money. There's a difference there.

It's like the difference between going to the bank and borrowing $100,000 to start a business to get rich, vs. taking that $100,000 and just having it as money to get rich.

Part of my speculation arose also from the fact that I was checking in here and considered the typical reality that "Steem dropped below 10 cents" and "Bitcoin dropped to $6,600."

My point here being that we still haven't gotten to a point even remotely close to a reality where we view Bitcoin (and Steem, or anything else) in the context of how many apples we can buy, or how many liters of wine, or how many shares of Apple stock. Everything is still viewed in terms of Dollars, Euros, Yen, Rupees or whatever else you might hold.

Japanese maple leaves...

We have a very long way to go, because these new "currencies" don't yet even have the impact of what one might consider a minor currency you can buy coffee and electricity with if you happen to live in Jamaica or Ecuador, but pretty much have to turn into Dollars or Euros anywhere else.

So, in the end "it's STILL all Dollars and Cents," and I find myself wondering if we will ever get beyond that point for as long as we keep looking at cryptocurrencies mostly as investments we get involved with in order to make money for a Lamborghini, rather than something we actually use to trade goods and services with?

I suppose it could all just be a matter of time... but sometimes I can't help but wonder whether we are just chasing around a big handful of future "Zimbabwean Dollars..."

Thanks for reading!

(Another #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)

Where do YOU think we are headed? Do you feel that the eternal focus on cryptos as INVESTMENTS rather than a means of exchange is HINDERING or HELPING move us along? Do the frequent "Bitcoin tumbles again" reports keep people from taking it seriously, as a genuinely viable future? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 191125 09:48 PDT
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