TRENDS: 2020 Could Be The Year Of Mainstream Blockchain Adoption

“Let the dead bury the dead,” and certainly, 2019 was not cryptocurrency’s vindication year. Although according to coincap.io data, Bitcoin is up nearly 75% over the last year, secondplace cryptocurrency network Ethereum is down a little over 11% over the same time period — and thirdplace network XRP/Ripple is down a whopping ~53%.

Bitcoin: still up almost 75% over the last year, despite regulatory headwinds & market uncertainty.

Still, US policy on cryptocurrency has not changed substantially, and China earlier in the year reversed course — signaling major government interest in supporting blockchain development in the years to come.

The Chinese government was adamant that it was not endorsing Bitcoin or other pre-existing blockchain networks, yet to some reading the tea leaves from here in the West, the signaling was very interesting for a simple reason: if China wants to enter the global blockchain industry in a big way, it probably needs to work with some of the global pre-existing standards, which include Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Just as the Chinese economy utilizes global Internet protocols — such as http for webpage content and the various email protocols (SMTP, IMAP, etc.) for international email delivery — it would need to interact, or fully incorporate, the leading crypto protocols. Chinese government created and enforced blockchains aren’t likely to be accepted in the West.

In the US, leading retailers including Starbucks and Whole Foods already accept Bitcoin and Ether for payment through the easy to use Flexa app (similar to how Apple Pay works). And major US-based financial institution Fidelity has launched custodial and execution services for Bitcoin and Ether, targeted at institutional investors.

Is their interest just to meet a passing fad, or do they see a deeper trend potentially? The About page of Fidelity Digital Assets is not shy on the scope of their ambition: “We envision a future where all types of assets are issued natively on blockchains or represented in tokenized format. It all begins with a full-service, enterprise-grade platform for securing, trading, and supporting investments in digital assets.”

Wow.

This, among several other reasons, gives us plenty of hope for the blockchain world in 2020.

Learn more about Bitcoin in this short video:

This video explains how Bitcoin works in 3 minutes. See more of our videos about cryptocurrencies here https://vimeo.com/album/4322275?ref=tw-share Directed, Designed and Animated by Duncan Elms - www.duncanelms.com www.anotherplace.tv Written and Voiced by Marc Fennell - www.marcfennell.com Sound Design by Sebastian Oliwa - www.oliwa.tv Updated in September 2014. Original video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEbCbp1vc9Y This is a self funded personal project, If you would like to make a Bitcoin donation for the video, please do so to 1P9wrpA2UQ2GEmMpt81Ch3Wt4poq5LhpiW. Or you can use the Vimeo tip jar. Bitcoin is constantly changing, therefore some of the stats may not be up to date. For more info please see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin. We encourage you to share this video under the condition you embed it from this source and use the credits from above. Software used: After Effects and Cinema 4D

And learn more about Ethereum in this video:

Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, fraud or third party interference. Ethereum is how the Internet was supposed to work: it's a censorship-proof planetary scale computer, where users always stay in control of their funds and personal data.

Keep reading: Ethereum Is AMAZING! Look At These Underlying Fundamentals

At time of publication, FULCRUM may have a small investment in the products, currencies, and projects mentioned here. Not financial advice; no warranties or guarantees provided.