Many of us have been interested in blockchain tech for a few years, while others hopped on the train when things got hot (and interesting) this fall. There's nothing wrong with bull market induced excitement; seeing assets bid up into the stratosphere is awesome when you're long ETH or BTC (or, as it was, any cryptocurrency).
But irrational bull markets tend to burn out, and here we are five months into a bear market that has newcomers spooked. This was not how it was meant to be.
Here's the thing about bear markets: it filters out the garbage, and gives you a great opportunity to pay attention to what is actually going on...instead of what is being pumped by con men and hucksters.
Some Projects to Consider
If you're long on time and short on money, get on Reddit and check out some of the various projects going on in Ethereum. There is a lot going on, with over 600 projects by various startups, including the fascinating Loom Network's Kickstarter campaign for Zombie Battleground: a collectible card game on the Ethereum network. The animations in the campaign are already pretty awesome, and Loom's ability to ship code on time is impressive. Loom is hoping to have other games that run on Ethereum sidechains as well; if you're in the gaming world and want to build a blockchain game, you should check them out.
Another cool project is @decentraland. Decentraland is a sort of Second Life on the Ethereum blockchain, which had a land auction earlier this year and is now open for development. I have a few parcels of land that I bought, which are probably worth a few hundred dollars each right now (land can be bought and sold here), but I'm holding onto them for a bit as Decentraland is being built up by entrepreneurs, gamers, speculators, and hobbyists. I hope to walk through my land someday using a VR headset, and even have some ideas on what to do with the spaces I've bought. They are worth following on Steemit as well.
More Blockchains
Beyond Ethereum, the EOS blockchain, while plagued with some early issues, could be a great canvas to develop blockchain games and products on. Block.one is funding projects built on EOS, so if you're considering a project but don't want to do an ICO (and I really don't blame you), you could look for them for funding. I think EOS could have some interesting interactions between gaming platforms that use them...we'll see.
Beyond Speculation
There are very few times that come along when capital is this available for startups. The dot com bubble was one. This blockchain bubble is another. There's no need to try and find the best tokens that will "moon"; you're not going to catch the next Bitcoin at $1 and earn 20,000X returns. It's ok-it's enough right now to learn to code, put together a project, and get some funding to try to make your dream project.
What have you go to lose?
-Jeff
P.S. I own MANA (the Decentraland token), ETH and EOS. I am considering buying Loom tokens. This article is not advice saying you should buy tokens; rather you should consider building a business that runs on these tokens.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://steemmaker.com/focus-on-blockchain-development/
Decentraland sounds coo. You'll be able to have some downtown property there at some point if things go well. That would be fun to walk around your land using a VR headset. I wonder if your parents would visit. Ha ha. You could always get beers with your buddies there if you put in a bar. :D
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I'd love to see VR that is connected to live drones. Imagine flying them into the Grand Canyon or around Manhattan. I'm not sure the bandwidth is there yet for live video but it could be prerecorded, making an at home Imax experience.
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That would be amazing! You could explore from the comfort of your home (or anywhere with internet) and get to experience some of the most beautiful places on earth. I don't think they allow drones in the canyon, unless I'm mistaken. I think the FAA still has jurisdiction there and they don't want people messing things up, especially since they have helicopter tours around there too.
If they were doing a one time recording, someone might be able to get a pass, even if it's restricted. They could partner with the parks department (translation: agree to give them some of the profits) and do an IMAX or HD recording of the canyon that you could buy. I'm not sure if that would be better done with a drone or a helicopter. I imagine the cameras that you could take in a helicopter would be better, but technology is progressing all the time, so drones might have just as good of cameras now. Still, I think you're on to something.
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Decentraland is a very interesting concept. I just spent the past hour reading through their website.
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It is! There seems to be steady development going on from third parties, too.
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Well analyze post and constructive information about investment in blockchain startup and other blockchain project . I am investing mainly into Eos for now because I can see a very bright future for the blockchain I'm thelong term and also due to its advantageous features and scalability model I do believe that Eos will transform the whole blockchain ecosystem and it will worth more in price in future @protegeaa
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We'll see! I think EOS's biggest challenge is bringing non techies to crypto, which ethereum hasn't done yet.
All the chatter about scalability is useless if there are no masses to scale.
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