This is my first "idea" I've published on this site. I prefer to look at the tech than the charts.
Ahhh, crystal ball time… Why do I think IOTA will be a huge player in 2018? 5 pros, 5 cons.
Pros:
1. IOTA sets the standard for low fees.
The only way you could beat zero tx is if you paid people to transact.
2. IOTA decentralises the computational workload.
Each time you send on the network you also validate 2 other random transactions. No more “miners”. This is critical for growth.
3. IOTA is scalable.
The more people that use the network the faster it operates. It works the opposite way to other cryptocurrencies.
4. IOTA does not discriminate.
Part of my day job involves integration of merchant services for fiat currencies. That’s what you use for credit card purchases. You currently pay anywhere from 1% to 4.9% in fees when you use your bank cards. That’s fine for most of us in the developed world (and great for the banks) but that’s completely untenable for developing countries.
5. IOTA is just getting started.
2018 will see the release of mobile wallets. And as more and more people start to use cryptocurrencies in their day to day, mobile wallets are a *huge* deal. The fact that IOTA has already made it into the top 10 cryptocurrencies shows it’s potential simply as an idea, but as it picks up more support (not least of the latest being the Tokyo Metropolitan Government) and adds these utilities, the utility of the network will begin to manifest.
What about the cons:
1. IOTA is geeky.
Geeks get a lot right, case in point, IOTA! But there is often a lot of practical stuff that geeks often overlook. I believe the goal of IOTA (to connect the internet of things) is short-sighted. Things are useless without people operating them.
2. IOTA takes a lot of explaining.
It took me a lot of reading to get my head around how this works. If IOTA is to succeed, it needs to be recontextualised in an easy to understand soundbite. Maybe something like “the internet of money”?
3. Three steps forward, one step back = IOTA has an element of centralisation.
To protect against a certain kind of attack, the IOTA network relies on a centralised “coordinator” node. The network can survive decentralised without it, but for now it is a part of the networks growth. This is why some people say it is “partially centralised”. Long term I see even this being addressed, but for the time being it stays.
4. IOTA is just getting started.
This is listed above as a pro! What’s the problem then? The problem is the same for a lot of these new currencies… Programming teams neglect to build (or assume someone else will build) a functional mobile wallet. It is critical to have a slick, mobile app that let’s people experience the speed and ease of use that these currencies provide. Mobile payments are a *huge* deal… Paying a friend for a split bills, sending money overseas… This is a huge powerful area for consumer crypto and even Dogecoin has a wallet (Bread).
5. IOTA will have tangle competitors.
The tangle is a revolutionary idea in the crypto sphere, but it won’t have a monopoly on it for long. Burst Coin is already trying to implement a hard fork to integrate it as it would augment their “green” (relatively) credentials.
In conclusion, this is among my top picks for 2018. It disrupts the disruptors, it’s open source, it addresses many of the biggest problems currently faced. And while it does perhaps introduce new problems, the fact remains, it’s one of the most innovative systems in the space right now, and it's working! I had thought to throw my weight behind some other coins (or even start a tangle of my own) but IOTA get’s enough right for me to back it wholeheartedly.
Set your own targets with this spreadsheet which automatically calculates “break even” limit orders for you for 10, 20, 30% (idea from Coin Mastery yt):
docs.google.com/spre...M-Ox57T7jZFS8fDbbAPr
Ahhh, crystal ball time… Why do I think IOTA will be a huge player in 2018? 5 pros, 5 cons.
Pros:
1. IOTA sets the standard for low fees.
The only way you could beat zero tx is if you paid people to transact.
2. IOTA decentralises the computational workload.
Each time you send on the network you also validate 2 other random transactions. No more “miners”. This is critical for growth.
3. IOTA is scalable.
The more people that use the network the faster it operates. It works the opposite way to other cryptocurrencies.
4. IOTA does not discriminate.
Part of my day job involves integration of merchant services for fiat currencies. That’s what you use for credit card purchases. You currently pay anywhere from 1% to 4.9% in fees when you use your bank cards. That’s fine for most of us in the developed world (and great for the banks) but that’s completely untenable for developing countries.
5. IOTA is just getting started.
2018 will see the release of mobile wallets. And as more and more people start to use cryptocurrencies in their day to day, mobile wallets are a *huge* deal. The fact that IOTA has already made it into the top 10 cryptocurrencies shows it’s potential simply as an idea, but as it picks up more support (not least of the latest being the Tokyo Metropolitan Government) and adds these utilities, the utility of the network will begin to manifest.
What about the cons:
1. IOTA is geeky.
Geeks get a lot right, case in point, IOTA! But there is often a lot of practical stuff that geeks often overlook. I believe the goal of IOTA (to connect the internet of things) is short-sighted. Things are useless without people operating them.
2. IOTA takes a lot of explaining.
It took me a lot of reading to get my head around how this works. If IOTA is to succeed, it needs to be recontextualised in an easy to understand soundbite. Maybe something like “the internet of money”?
3. Three steps forward, one step back = IOTA has an element of centralisation.
To protect against a certain kind of attack, the IOTA network relies on a centralised “coordinator” node. The network can survive decentralised without it, but for now it is a part of the networks growth. This is why some people say it is “partially centralised”. Long term I see even this being addressed, but for the time being it stays.
4. IOTA is just getting started.
This is listed above as a pro! What’s the problem then? The problem is the same for a lot of these new currencies… Programming teams neglect to build (or assume someone else will build) a functional mobile wallet. It is critical to have a slick, mobile app that let’s people experience the speed and ease of use that these currencies provide. Mobile payments are a *huge* deal… Paying a friend for a split bills, sending money overseas… This is a huge powerful area for consumer crypto and even Dogecoin has a wallet (Bread).
5. IOTA will have tangle competitors.
The tangle is a revolutionary idea in the crypto sphere, but it won’t have a monopoly on it for long. Burst Coin is already trying to implement a hard fork to integrate it as it would augment their “green” (relatively) credentials.
In conclusion, this is among my top picks for 2018. It disrupts the disruptors, it’s open source, it addresses many of the biggest problems currently faced. And while it does perhaps introduce new problems, the fact remains, it’s one of the most innovative systems in the space right now, and it's working! I had thought to throw my weight behind some other coins (or even start a tangle of my own) but IOTA get’s enough right for me to back it wholeheartedly.
Set your own targets with this spreadsheet which automatically calculates “break even” limit orders for you for 10, 20, 30% (idea from Coin Mastery yt):
docs.google.com/spre...M-Ox57T7jZFS8fDbbAPr
docs.google.com/spre...FS8fDbbAPruQEH-Ijqk/