First of all, let me make it clear... I HOLD ETHEREUM!
Recently things have been great, but, things never remain great forever...
Can Ethereum really just continue to gain dominance and usurp established norms of business practice and established institutions without any backlash or crackdown from government bodies? With all the new ICO's piggy backing on this blockchain, Ethereum has effectively become the trading platform or value discovery vehicle... a role previously dominated by stock exchanges and big banks and financial institutions. Although the crypto market cap is approaching $100 Billion, it is relatively small compared to the conventional stock and bond markets... However, if things continue to scale at this torrid pace, it is only a matter of time where legacy institutions start seeing the competition and demand a leveling of the playing field.
Ethereum is different from Bitcoin... although decentralized there is no central authority in Bitcoin that governments could attack. With Ethereum, however, there is Vitalik, and, certainly his life can be made difficult to gain compliance.
If any such rumblings begin to come about, watch out! Things could get bumpy...
I'm long Ethereum. As mentioned, I hold it in my portfolio. I am not an active trader and hope to keep for many years. However, I know that once anything becomes too powerful and challenges the status quo, there are always attempts by the central authorities to establish limits and boundaries. I have my eyes and ears open to that. Please let me know if I'm worrying about nothing...
Thanks
more than 92 million ether right now and steadily growing... it's unlimited yet. that's why, it scares me.
I've heard that argument as well but am less concerned about that. There has been talk in the Ethereum community that new Ether generation would eventually be capped to just the fuel required to execute smart contracts. So hopefully the potential to introduce discipline in the sphere is still there....
i wish you the best.
You also...
The bitcoin market is already in need of regulation as price is so blatantly obviously controled by a few strong hands. I have made several posts over the weekend outlining the price manipulation and how to spot it. Also, someone posted a blog showing STEEM payouts over the very recent past. It is pretty clear to see that there are already steemit members taking advantage on other steemit members who are caught up in teh "hysteria" that is bitcoin. The largest payouts were made during high volume spikes in bitcoin, which took the price of STEEM right along with it. I'm all for "say whatever you want because I make my own decisions anyway." But a handful of bitcoin whales are "obvioulsy" stepping in, bringing their subs from otehr social media sites, and pumping up the volume on blogs they post here so that they can enjoy the payout that results from the "enthusiasm" of alot of let's call them "unseasoned" traders/investors. So steemit is good...as long as you know when you are being "played." And that of course is the difficult part when everyone is under the ether of the crypto excitement.
The reward system on this platform encourages that. Volume matters... This is all about generating volume and mindshare...
...cept in cases that I just mentioned. I have one steemit member in particular in mind and they haven't been back since their $12000 one day payout. Like I said, no biggie to me. I just look at it as just anotehr sign that things are about to turn ugly for bitcoin holders whenst the guys who know how to manipulate the community to their benefit show up. I promise, they won't be here when it is time to buy. Only when it is time to sell. Misery loves company during selloffs and there is no BIG payout whenst STEEM is trading 40% lower than it is right now.