The dot-com bubble: Lessons to be learned?

One of the conversations I had many times throughout the MJAC 2018 conference on Friday was with members of the older generation. The topic was my article published on Friday morning discussing Bitcoin vs. blockchain. One of the main ideas put forward for the difference of opinion was said to be that they had seen such a space before, in the days of the dot-com bubble.

For those who are too young or too old to remember, the dot-com bubble was in the early days of what is now the World Wide Web. New websites were being created at a rapid pace with vast sums of money being pumped into various projects. To provide some scale, once the bubble popped, the market cap of the space lost around $5 trillion. The recent crypto bear market has shed around $6 billion. Clearly the dot-com bubble was a step above anything we have seen in the recent world of cryptocurrency.

There are definitely similarities between both events. Blockchain is effectively a new industry based upon the internet technology. Many people suggest that blockchain technology will change the world in a similar way to how the internet has changed society. As with the dot-com boom however, there is concern the blockchain bubble will also pop. They base this upon the idea that they saw terrible projects during the dot-com bubble and they see the same issues now. However, out of the ashes of the dot-com bubble popping rose such behemoths as Google, Amazon, and later on Facebook.

Perhaps we are yet to see the true cryptocurrency bubble. However, those people I spoke to are following the same logic of the dot-com bubble within this space. They admit that there are terrible projects, but they will die. Out of the ashes will rise the true behemoths of the blockchain world. What these will be is yet to be determined. Every project seems to be considered a bit of a punt at the moment.

I am still yet to be convinced by their arguments. Perhaps in 20 years, I will have seen the true extent of the crypto bubble and become wiser because of it. Until then, I am sticking to my guns and staying on the side of Bitcoin, not blockchain.