Internet 2.0

The economic news is now likely to dominate as infection rates continue to fall and the Government reflects on the soaring cost of the pandemic. Assuming we believe the news from the main providers, so far over £65 billion has been spent on business loans and furlough support.

The news last Friday that the economy shrank by over 20% in April will have come as no surprise but there will be trepidation in many quarters awaiting the number for May. Fortunately, the Bank of England stands ready to take “big action” – whatever that means. The press will decide of course and lurid comments in today’s rags talk of cuts to VAT. We’ll see.

The shops re-opened today and it will be interesting to see how many are brave enough to venture out. I still believe the high street is fighting a losing battle as its costs are unlikely to be met by income. It will be good to “touch and feel” goods again – assuming you can be bothered to queue – but how many will be on their smart phones checking the online price?

The news from China over the weekend – not surprising – of another outbreak and its resulting lockdown has sent shivers through the investment markets. I am not convinced. Knowing how these markets operate I would not be surprised if this was just another piece of engineering. With the virus news largely more positive and China jumping into action immediately – unlike first time – is there really cause for panic over a second wave? Or is it just an opportunity to tank markets and then buy back and make profit? Assuming you are in a position to. Pity the poor millions in pension funds, ISAs etc.

Internet

My earliest memory of the internet was the dialling tone, very loud dialling tone, as I tried to dial in to my Internet Service Provider. I remember getting CD’s in my inbox which were used to connect to an ISP.

Had there been no ISPs there would have been no world wide web.

We never asked the internet to scale up nor did we complain that we couldn’t send a movie over as it was far too slow. We rarely switched off, preferring to suffer hours of failed connection attempts!

Fast forward to today and we no longer make the effort to “go online” as most of us are there all the time. We shop, we buy and we sell. We created “e-commerce”

What is the one thing needed to shop online or go onto social networks? An email address. Without this the internet is largely off limits.

Internet 2.0

So how does this compare to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency?

Connectivity was/is needed for the internet. With crypto we needed crypto. In order to buy and sell it we needed the exchanges – similar to ISPs in the internet story. These exchanges will continue to grow and commoditise.

As with internet access the first stage of blockchain is now complete. The second stage – think broadband with the internet – is coming.

The first wave of email addresses were provided by ISPs. Hotmail was the game changer.

What is the blockchain equivalent to email addresses? Digital Wallets.

What do we need before we can acquire crypto? A wallet.

The first wave of wallets came from the exchanges; the second wave will be from independent sources. When will this happen? Soon I believe.

Lifestyle

What do you crave? Financial independence perhaps or just the security of knowing you can afford to pay the bills and enjoy yourself from time to time? Has the lockdown changed your aspirations? Are you now starting to wonder if there is a better way, one which affords you far greater control? If so, you should follow Crypto Lifestyle. We share these aspirations and can show you how to attain them.