Cryptocurrencies are the highest appreciating asset class in the history of mankind. Bitcoin’s price increased 2,000,000x in its first 7 years and 6,900,000x in just over a decade. Ethereum’s native token, ETH, did over 10,000x in about 2.5 years, and over 300,000x in its first 5. More recently established, HEX, did 10,000x in just its first 2 years and over 20,000x for HEX time-locking.
Total Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization
These are first movers in the cryptocurrency space with excellent product-market fit and growing communities. Bitcoin laid the foundation as the original cryptocurrency. Ethereum ushered in the era of smart contracts. HEX leveraged Ethereum’s capabilities as the first mover in Decentralized Finance (DeFi), launching as a finished product that rewards users with high yield for time-locking their tokens. This bears resemblance to traditional financial instruments like Certificates of Deposit and Bonds in various ways, yet it eliminates intermediaries, allowing users to engage directly with the flawless operation of its smart contract.
The real excitement, the real opportunity with cryptocurrency, is its capacity to be a long-term wealth-building powerhouse.
The focus here transcends the transactional aspects of cryptocurrency. Yes, crypto can function as a robust means of exchange. But to focus solely on this is to miss the bigger picture. The real excitement, the real opportunity with cryptocurrency, is its capacity to be a long-term wealth-building powerhouse.
Why spend and rid yourself of the valuable things appreciating in value like Bitcoin, ETH, or HEX? It doesn’t make any financial sense, especially when you consider traditional currencies, like the dollar, spend just fine and actually depreciate in value. If you take a look around in the world, it appears reality agrees.
McDonalds Menu from 1960
Would you use shares of Amazon or Tesla to buy a coffee or a burger? Nobody does, because these assets are valued for their growth potential, not their spending power. This principle of growth potential directly applies to cryptocurrency as well. Crypto is akin to the speculative growth assets in your portfolio, not the depreciating cash in your wallet.
US Dollar Devaluation
In 2010 the infamous Bitcoin Pizza was purchased whereby Laszlo Hanyecz paid Jeremy Sturdivant 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John’s pizzas worth $25 at the time. Had he paid in dollars and held the Bitcoin instead, those same 10,000 Bitcoin would today be worth over half a billion dollars at time of writing. This highlights and underscores the utility of cryptocurrency as a vastly more powerful wealth building asset than a means of currency exchange.
In 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto opened the Bitcoin white paper with these words: “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash…” Counter to Satoshi’s vision, Bitcoin has never thrived as a replacement for dollars for everyday spending; rather, Bitcoin has become widely recognized for its highest utility as a means to preserve and grow wealth. Putting an exclamation point on its store of value, the SEC recently approved the first Bitcoin ETFs in early January of this year.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Performance
Six years after Bitcoin launched Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum, revolutionizing blockchain by introducing smart contracts. This monumental achievement introduced a universe of decentralized applications beyond mere financial transactions.
Ethereum’s adoption and advancements signified a paradigm shift in blockchain utility, transcending Bitcoin’s transactional intention.
Filling a vital niche, Ethereum rapidly became the backbone for a multitude of innovative applications, from finance to gaming. Ethereum’s adoption and advancements signified a paradigm shift in blockchain utility, transcending Bitcoin’s transactional intention.
Ethereum (ETH) Price Performance
HEX.com launched in December 2019, marking a novel foray into the crypto space by creating a unique, finished product designed to leverage Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities and address the lack of time-locked savings mechanisms in the cryptocurrency world. HEX, created by Richard Heart, rewards users with high yield for time-locking their tokens, incentivizing long-term holding. By time-locking HEX tokens, users earn yield, creating a decentralized finance (DeFi) system that not only promotes saving but also offers substantial potential gains in the underlying token.
HEX Price Performance
This innovative approach capitalizes on Ethereum’s robust framework, offering a secure, transparent, and user-centric financial product. HEX’s commitment to providing a blockchain-based savings solution illustrates the expanding utility of cryptocurrencies, extending their reach beyond simple transactions to more complex financial strategies.
As Ethereum’s popularity has surged, so too have the fees for using it, reaching levels that deter many potential users. PulseChain launched in mid 2023 as a solution to these issues, targeting the high costs and slow transaction speeds that plague the Ethereum network. PulseChain is a fork of Ethereum, leveraging a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to offer quicker transactions at significantly lower costs.
Being a faster, cheaper, energy efficient fork of Ethereum, those addresses that held crypto on Ethereum in May 2023 may find they have free copies of their tokens on PulseChain, marking the world’s largest free airdrop.
Ethereum (lower) Past Price Performance vs. PulseChain (upper) Current Price Performance
With a focus on scalability, energy efficiency, and user engagement, PulseChain represents a practical evolution in the blockchain space. It aims to provide a more accessible and efficient platform for digital assets, directly addressing the current limitations without the overly promotional rhetoric. Being a faster, cheaper, energy efficient fork of Ethereum, those addresses that held crypto on Ethereum in May 2023 may find they already have free copies of their tokens on PulseChain, marking the world’s largest free airdrop.
The answer is simple: treat it like the speculative, high-potential asset class that it is. Accumulate it, watch it grow, and let your allocation to crypto increase your financial worth over time. Spend those depreciating dollars and enjoy holding appreciating assets.