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Bitcoin (BTC) reached its all-time high price earlier in March 2024 – crossing the $70,000 mark – and touching a high of $73,000 in the subsequent days. While the move was greatly attributed to the recent approval of Bitcoin electronic traded funds (ETFs), the journey towards $70,000 started over a decade and a half ago, with many pitfalls and successes along the way. A similar tale can be said of its closest competitor, Ethereum, which hovers slightly above $4,000, and many of the other top cryptocurrencies such as Solana, Cardano, and XRP.
In this article, we aim to look at the conspicuous journeys that several cryptocurrencies have taken to the top, understand their challenges throughout their lifetime, their developmental progress, and how these projects contributed to the broader crypto ecosystem. In addition, we focus on some of the projects showing promise of long-term success despite current drawbacks and why maintaining faith in these projects may pay off in the long term.
The crucial genesis of cryptocurrencies through Bitcoin’s lens
During the 2008 financial crisis, the economic world was in turmoil – big banks collapsed following the housing market crisis, currencies faced massive devaluations, and national governments experienced their worst ratings in several years. Coincidentally, the same year marked the first mention of ‘blockchain technology’, as a mysterious and anonymous individual (or group) published the Bitcoin whitepaper.
Satoshi Nakamoto came to the world view, launching the first counterculture to traditional finance as we knew it for centuries. Bitcoin has since pushed the boundaries past our imagination, becoming the eighth-largest asset in the world, surpassing silver earlier this month. However, the journey has not always been a sweet ride.
In the early days of Bitcoin, very few people believed it to become the global currency or store of value it is today until May 2010, when a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC, worth around $30 at the time. This transaction changed everything for Bitcoin. Afterwards, Bitcoin exchanges started popping up allowing users to create a market price for this digital currency.
Laszlo Hanyecz, who bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC in May 2010
In 2011, Mt. Gox, a digital cards exchange market, transformed into a fully-fledged Bitcoin exchange allowing users to directly buy and sell BTC on the market. This was quickly followed by the launch of Silk Road, a black market for illegal activity that accepted Bitcoin as currency. However, Mt.Gox was shut down three years later as reports of negligence, security breaches, and other deficiencies crept up. The exchange lost 740,000 BTC ($51 Billion as of writing) via hacks and security breaches, leading to the executives declaring bankruptcy. Silk Road was later shut down and 26,000 BTC (~$3.6 Million at the time) was seized by the FBI.
As Bitcoin gained attention across the globe and its value skyrocketed, the community became split on the future of the blockchain, leading to several forks on the way – most notable, the 2017 fork that created Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The coin seemed to face certain death but astonishingly reached its all-time high of $20,000 the same year.
Despite the dips and wild volatility, coupled with regulatory pressures across global governments, Bitcoin has steadily grown to a trillion-dollar market cap. The latest Bitcoin ETF approval was a final approval stamp on the asset’s maturity – growing from a valueless asset used by a small community into a global juggernaut that aims to replace the traditional finance space.
A curious case across other crypto projects?
Similar stories have occurred across the crypto sphere, including Ethereum, Solana and XRP, which have all faced major challenges to becoming multi-million dollar assets. Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has witnessed massive backlash from naysayers who believe the scalability and gas fees issues will lead to its downfall. In addition, millions of dollars worth of crypto have been hacked from platforms built on the blockchain but the coin has found ways to survive via the tribulations to become the parent chain of innovative technologies such as NFTs and DeFi.
Solana, on its part, could be the most relatable and recent case of zero to hero to zero and back to hero. Since its launch, at the boom of DeFi in 2020, Solana built itself as a community chain led by former FTX Exchange CEO and co-founder, Sam Bankman Fried, or better known as SBF. Offering cheaper fees and faster transaction times than Ethereum saw the blockchain earn the tag “Ethereum killer” and its value skyrocketed more than 100x in less than two years.
Nonetheless, the conviction of SBF and his subsequent arrest saw the price of $SOL stumble to as low as $10, as users and FTX rushed to sell following the exchange’s Chapter 11 filing. Since the debacle, however, the coin has appreciated greatly since 2022, recording a price of $180, representing a return of 1800% since its 2022-2023 lows.
Why crypto investors need to focus on foundational growth
As seen above, most cryptocurrencies face a period of doubt and uncertainty – Bitcoin in its early days, Ethereum’s naysayers, and Solana following the FTX crash. However, it is the fundamental aspect of an asset that ensures it survives amidst fear, doubt, and uncertainty (FUD).
A project’s community and investors should focus on the foundational growth and long-term potential to reap huge rewards. For example, Philcoin, a human-focused blockchain platform that bridges philanthropy and blockchain technology, has seen its price drop massively since its launch, losing 90% of its value. Despite the drop, the token has global benefits to charities and philanthropies, offering a product that solves real-world problems via its donate and earn platform.
Notwithstanding, the platform also includes the PHILApp, a super dApp that helps grow people and communities. While you chat, connect on social media, learn, listen to music, play games, and more, it allows you to earn and give back at the same time.
Another project, Sweatcoin, has faced a similar fate, with its token value dropping over 90% over the past three years. The platform, however, offers its community a way to earn while exercising, which could be beneficial in reducing inactivity and conditions associated with inactivity such as obesity and diabetes.
Final comments
In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrency, patience is often undervalued. Yet, it is a virtue that can yield significant rewards in the long run. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and similarly, groundbreaking projects in the crypto space require time to develop and gain traction. Despite the low-price action, projects such as Philcoin and Sweatcoin may prove to be winners in the long term.
Amidst this volatility, it’s easy to become discouraged, especially when a project’s growth seems to be moving at a snail’s pace. However, it’s crucial for the crypto community to maintain faith in projects with solid foundations, even when the journey seems slow.
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Sam Chess is an utterly focused person looking for the minute details having potential to make a big difference. He is a writer and proofreader with a zeal to understand the cryptocurrency market. Additionally, he can be found trying to figure out the biggest mystery in the industry, Satoshi Nakamoto.
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