Brian Kelly, noted investor and author of The Bitcoin Big Bang, was a keynote speaker at last month’s Inside Bitcoins conference in New York. During his presentation, Kelly discussed the rise of bitcoin and the high level of competition that is erupting between various participants in this new, decentralized industry. Kelly believes we’re witnessing the birth of an entirely new sector of the economy due to the creation of the blockchain, and the options for consumers interested in adopting the technology are akin to the battle between Apple and Microsoft in the early days of the personal computer.
On the rise of bitcoin and blockchain tech
Like most individuals who learn about bitcoin for the first time, Kelly was quite skeptical at first. When he first found out about bitcoin, Kelly claims he thought to himself, “This has to be a bubble.” Much like many other critics at the time, Kelly was also thinking, “This is tulip mania all over again.” Although other traders avoided bitcoin due to the belief that it was nothing more than a fad, Kelly turned to George Soros for inspiration. It was Soros who said, “When I see a bubble forming I rush in to buy, adding fuel to the fire,” and Kelly didn’t hesitate to follow this advice.
After first viewing bitcoin as nothing more than a way to make a quick buck, Kelly then started to realize there was much more to this new technology than he originally thought. He found out that it was also a payment system, and then, after more research, he realized that bitcoin was the gift that keeps on giving. He kept finding new, interesting features of Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention that reminded him of the stereotypical “But wait, there’s more” guy that everyone has seen on late-night infomercials. After writing a book as part of his research process, Kelly concluded that blockchain technology is one of the most important innovations in the history of finance.
On the current blockchain industry
Later in Kelly’s presentation, he began exploring the various “bitcoin 2.0” applications of blockchain technology that have become popular over the past two years. He noted that we are currently in the “Apple vs Microsoft” phase of this new industry, and he said consumers now have the chance to choose which protocols will succeed in the long run. While displaying a slide that mentioned Omni, Counterparty, NXT, NuBits, BitShares, Ethereum, and Ripple, Kelly claimed, “These are the ones with the most promise.” He went on to explain that decentralized apps have the ability to flatten the cost of software and offer new ways to finance projects.
What will the market choose?
By the end of his presentation, it became clear that Kelly is a believer in the concept of the appcoin, which was popularized by Dapps Fund’s David Johnston. Having said that, there are many others in the bitcoin community who believe this concept does not make economic sense. There is a wide range of opinions out there when it comes to what the blockchain technology ecosystem will look like in five or ten years. Some say that everything will be built directly on top of bitcoin, while others claim that permissioned distributed ledgers, which don’t come with their own coin or token attached to them, are the future. Of course, it should be noted that these are nothing more than predictions, and it may take a few more years for the future of blockchain technology to become crystal clear.
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