It Pays to Pay Attention in Crypto

2019年2月7日

For years I have been reading about technology and what the future might be like. So far there have been many advances but for every advance there were always let downs, disappointments, economic and social barriers, and general delays. Everything seems to be spooling up at once. A crossroads of sorts is forming. Some call it the singularity, some call it transcendence, some call it the second coming of Christ, and some call it judgement and hell. However you look at the advancement of technology one thing is certain, there is tech being developed today that will change the future forever. How do you spot it? How do you own a part of it? What is the ultimate goal, and how do you weed out failures? I can't answer all of those questions but I can emphasize what I've noticed. There are things being developed that get dismissed off hand by many but to me seem like some of the most powerful technical achievements we might ever see in our lifetime (even if technology manages to extend that too). We will think back to this time and wonder how we missed one idea or another and how it was so simple yet we didn't see it.

In walk the ethereum upgrades. Ethereum has lost a lot of monetary value in the cryptocurrency bear market but there is something I noticed that it didn't lose, developmental and implementation value. Many people criticize the delayed roll outs of features they want to use today as well as pointing out the falling price. Despite these controversies I see ethereum tackling problems never before mastered in computer programming. True randomness so that proof-of-stake can't be predicted? Are you serious? Then making true randomness accessible to anyone who wants to write a decentralized application? It sounds so trivial but it's a basic problem in mathematics. How do you create something random enough that your method or algorithm can't be eventually predicted? The things being worked on right now just to get the new proof-of-stake system working are some of the most groundbreaking subjects in computer science to date yet all I see is burned traders scoffing and competitors claiming they have a "superior" solution to ethereum that works "today". Sure, but at what cost? There is always a trade off for taking a shortcut. The people working on ethereum refuse to take these shortcuts. When I see this type of dedication and development happening I can't help but notice. My confusion is why so many others are not noticing. Do they not realize the implications? Maybe that's it. Maybe if you don't pay attention in math class about true randomness, maybe if you don't read articles about what's next in technology on a regular basis so you can filter out the noise and eventually get to the baseline signal, you miss out. Maybe I'm freaking out over nothing, but this feels like the next google. Google's search engine technology and the way they implemented it took them far beyond what many people thought was possible, something that was obvious to a person like me even though I was still in high school. I didn't have $10,000 to throw at the IPO at the time and it felt like it was out of my reach. I was young, inexperienced, unable to see the value of my own well thought out analysis of the future. It wasn't a second thought for me. I knew google would run the internet. I wasn't surprised when it happened. This familiar experience is happening again except this time the technology is ethereum and the crypto space in general. This time I'm ready, this time I have capital to spare, and this time I'm not going to let my position in society or my own limitations get in the way.

Are there projects I'm not talking about, sure. Here is the main point, pay attention to what is going on around you, know what the problems in the world are, and when you see someone working hard and solving those problems pay close attention. That little problem may be holding back a ton of innovation and as soon as it's solved an explosion of products and services are coming that will change the way the whole game is played. I always joke that I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none, and it's mostly true. I'm interested in too many subjects to stay enraptured long enough to become the foremost expert on anything, but I will say this; having a wider view and paying attention allows you to see obvious advances that even the experts miss. Keep your eyes open, be interested, and pay attention. With a little dedication, you'll stumble upon some gem no one else is noticing. Happy trading.