Blockcast.cc: Good evening all, this is me again, Jenny Zheng, Cofounder of Blockcast.cc. Today, we have two international guests in the house. Let’s meet Jan and Nicolaas.
Bitcoinlive: Hi Jenny!
Blockcast.cc: For a start, tell us about yourself, your background, life, hobbies, education, and experiences. Share anything you want guys. Lets start off with Jan.
Bitcoinlive: I am Jan Dalmulder. I come from a family of four children, two younger brothers and one older sister. I was able to learn easily, but did not like the way we are taught in school. I love to learn new things and think in possibilities. I am a Retail Manager (self-made). I am a proud father of four young boys of ages 3, 6, 8, and 10 and am happily married to a wonderful woman. I love to travel, eat, and cook different cuisines. I also like to do sports, read, learn, meet people, and learn/talk about crypto.
My name is Nicolaas Dalmulder, like Jan, I also work in the retail business. I got my Masters in Philosophy, and a minor in Cultural Anthropology. I love learning new things, especially when it comes to subjects like Psychology, History, and Science. But basically, I treat anything that grabs my attention as something worthwhile, as I like exploring new ideas and concepts. That’s why I love crypto because there are so many different angles to it, from the social and political, to the economic and philosophical, you name it. It’s just so rich and layered. I’m also a voracious reader, love to travel, and am big into movies and series. Besides that, I love drawing and writing a lot. Just staying active and always on the lookout for new things to do. I love this quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes: “A mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”
Together we’re Bitcoinlive, a social media platform that’s active on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. We launched our Non-Profit platform back in November 2018 with the aim of spreading adoption. We try to do this first and foremost by informing and educating the public about blockchain and cryptocurrencies, because many people still know very little, and what they think they know is often misinformed. Of course we also aim to promote crypto as a whole. We do this both in English, and in our native tongue, Dutch. Generally, we wanted to help people and aid them in navigating this new space of digital assets. It’s like a voyage of discovery we are all on, and Bitcoinlive tries to be a beacon that helps people keep their bearings, while also keeping things fun, interesting, understandable, lighthearted and exciting. After all, it’s what crypto is all about!
Blockast.cc: What is your current vision for the industry?
Bitcoinlive: We think the Industry is still very young but developing fast. There are so many teams of talented programmers and developers who are working around the clock often in their free time on incredible projects. Although there are also scams, impostors, hypocrites, and crapcoins out there, there are just as many amazing innovators and people with Real Vision and drive too, which of course makes being part of crypto so much fun. It makes you feel like you’re part of a movement that comes with so much energy, idealism, and enthusiasm! That’s why we think crypto has an incredibly bright future, despite the ups and downs we’ve had through the years.
Like Tom Lee’s Fundstrat research points out, Millennials want a new financial system because they have lost all faith and trust in bankers, politicians, and the middlemen that run things. They want a better, fairer, greener, and more inclusive system, which we think crypto can certainly deliver. The same generation, which is vast in number, has been branded as the first global generation who are at the same time labeled as ‘digital natives.’ They are tech-savvy, familiar with digital money, and more than ready for a trustless, code-based system. They also know what they want and don’t want, and are highly organized. So, all these are very positive signs for the industry.
Apart from that, crypto, or the internet of money, also has many advantages over the traditional financial system. From fast, secure, private, peer-to-peer micro-payments, to unlocking the potential of the unbanked, to having access to direct low cost loans, and revolutionizing remittances, crypto can deliver on all of them. And more specifically, in the case of Bitcoin, it’s at the very least the digital equivalent of gold, which is already amazing, but most likely it will be so much more. A truly unique and highly valuable commodity!
But 2020 will be an interesting and important year for the future development of crypto. With the rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC’s) and perhaps the arrival of Libra, things could turn bullish really fast. Not to mention Bitcoin’s Halving in May. If all goes well, 2020 may well turn out to be an inflextion point for the industry and the start of the Roaring Crypto 20s!
Blockcast.cc: A slightly more tricky question here. Which of the top 10 coins you see have the highest potential of growth?
Bitcoinlive: Bitcoin of course, since it provides liquidity for the whole crypto ecosystem (it is the “crypto reserve currency” by default). It also has the most straightforward use case and a real solid track record. Bitcoin, like Andreas Antonopoulos said, has the first-mover advantage and is continuously reinventing itself while staying true to its core, plus it also has one of the best and most active team (or teams around the world) of developers working on it. Last but not least, it has its own niche as a store of value, and perhaps as a safe haven too? These are all clear indications that Bitcoin is here to stay and will most likely continue to grow. And then there is the Halving I mentioned!
Ethereum’s DeFi smartcontract platform, and its slow but sure evolution towards the Serenity hardfork, is probably going to keep Ethereum in first place when it comes to smartcontracts. Also, it’s way more open and decentralized than the runner up EOS. So we foresee a potentially bright future for Ethereum, especially when you look at the astronomic growth of DeFi applications, like MakerDAO, Chainlink, Enigma, Ren, RLC, etc. The biggest question will be if Serenity can scale sufficiently and if Proof of Stake will keep the integrity and security of the system intact.
Then, there are the serious undervalued coins like XRP, which is continually making major new deals with giants of the traditional financial world. It’s also huge in terms of remittance. And we shouldn’t forget it’s ODL (On-Demand Liquidity) application of course. Their team is very well connected, knowing how to navigate the old world of finance and the brave new world of crypto, thereby creating a bridge or gateway between the two. After all, banks most likely will want to continue to play a part in this new financial system that’s being created under their noses.
We also believe BNB and BitcoinCash are both undervalued and might go way up in the future. If you only look at Binance’s reach across the world, with its latest acquisition of WazirX in India, for example, it’s huge! So having some BNB (for this price) and join in the IEO fun, is a bargain. A similar case can be made for BCH. We also believe Monero is one to watch the coming years, because the Roaring Crypto Twenties will also be about privacy and anonymity. And XMR’s community is one of the biggest, brightest, and most dedicated out there, and like Bitcoin and Ethereum, it has a first-mover advantage in its own niche of privacy coins.
Blockcast.cc: Looks like you guys are still very bullish about the market. That is good and positive. Do you think the altcoin market still potential?
Bitcoinlive: Yes, we do think the altcoin market will grow a lot! Of course many scammy or underfunded projects will wither away and die, but there are also many excellent projects out there, like Chainlink, Cosmos, Enjin, Icon, etc. that have found their own niche. And if Bitcoin will reach new ATHs, which we think it will, then many of these successful and well-managed (and financed) projects, will boom alongside Bitcoin. Because most likely part of their capital is invested in Bitcoin too, if only for liquidity reasons. So, if Bitcoin booms, then so does their investment, which they can then reinvest in their own projects, thereby attracting new investors and unleashing FOMO. Also those with Bitcoin themselves believe in crypto and would probably invest in good projects that have proven themselves worthy, or that improve the ecosystem as a whole. Or, just if they wanna trade and make some additional money. So yes, there will be a new altseason eventually. It’s only a matter of time and which alts.
Blockcast.cc: I do see there are many issues in the crypto market, from scams, liquidity, to funding problems. How do you think the crypto market will develop in light of these issues?
Bitcoinlive: Well, it’s a young and unregulated market so obviously there are still many problems with it. It’s like a gold rush, attracting the best and the worst and everything in between. But with time and rising prices, the industry will sort itself out. It will become better regulated and managed, since the players involved would want and expect that: reliability, predictability, accountability, stability, security, etc. And since these players will be hedgefunds, SWFs, Pensionfunds, and what have you, you can bet that things will drastically improve on that account. But it will also be a very bumpy ride until we get there, and close the door to many retail investors like you and me, when prices skyrocket beyond the distant horizon. High risk is the price for low admission fees.
Blockcast.cc: Where is the crypto market heading? Is it still going to be bearish? Or is it going to be bullish the next 6 months?
Bitcoinlive: Coming six months will most likely be very bullish. We are firm believers in the effect of the Halving (or Halvening) and the Stock-to-Flow model of PlanB. Bitcoin seems to behave like a Veblen good. So the higher the price, the more people seem to want it. And since supply will become halved coming May, making it even scarcer than gold, demand might very well increase even further. So things are looking very good indeed!
Also there’s the geopolitical tensions, which might boost prices further with people searching for a safe haven, like with Venezuela and Iran. Then there’s the state of the economy itself, which might tilt towards a (severe) recession. Of course, we don’t know exactly how Bitcoin will behave under those circumstances, but judging from cases like Venezuela and Iran, things look promising. Though Bitcoinlive doesn’t want nor promote misery to spread around the world, in fact it wants the exact opposite which is for it to come to a stop. That’s part of our mission, to explain to people how it might be very wise and prudent to at least have some exposure to Bitcoin exactly because of these growing risks and to finally end this system based on war and monetary debasement, and using currencies as weapons. But maybe we’re being too idealistic.
Apart from the former, infrastructure improvements such as Fidelity’s custody services have come to the forefront, alongside technological improvements such as Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and Ethereum’s recent Muir Glacier hardfork, thus making it all the more attractive for investors to step in. And of course there’s the growing track records of these coins, the decreasing volatility in the overall market, and the improvements in regulation, providing more clarity and reliability. And finally there’s the rise of CBDC’S and possibly Libra, as we mentioned.
Blockcast.cc: Are there any exciting upcoming projects that you want to share with us?
Bitcoinlive: Well, yeah, many! We always keep an eye out. Of course we’re always working and improving on Bitcoinlive, but talking about exciting projects we really like… Well, QLC is one such project! It’s focused on the telecommunication industry, attracting the likes of Vodafone. It has a good working app and you can stake it. And it seems to be supported by the Chinese government, which is a good thing when it comes to ROI. They would also thrive on a 5G rollout most likely. We also have high expectations for Fantom (FTM) which makes use of a unique Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) and is a smartcontracts platform that’s focused on scalability and compatibility mainly. HOLO (HOT) is also one on our radar, not only because it has a very dedicated and professional team behind it, but also because it’s super fast and extremely scalable. Then there is the next gen private coin NYM which works with TOR and makes it virtually impossible to race. We also like the whole DeFi play, with Chainlink, REN, KNC, iExec, Enigma, 0x, etc., since DeFi is only just starting. Major updates have already been achieved but there are more to come. Last but not least, we want to mention these coins: COSMOS, of course, which is an extremely interesting, versatile, and innovative project, but also Monaco (MCO), NEXO, BAT, NEO, Enjin, Digibyte, and ICON (ICX). They might be somewhat established, but they are great and hold so much potential!
Blockcast.cc: You have named quite a handful of good projects. Some of them we know them well like COSMOS. We have also seen other projects like Medsblock.com, Decent.ch, Gaimin.io, Troy, Wink and all that are doing their fair bit for the community.
Share with our readers an inspiring quote or saying. Our readers will appreciate your views.
Bitcoinlive: Since we want to make people think and open their eyes to the possibilities, we always end our shows with the saying “Makes you wonder!”. Critical thinking and thinking for yourself are essential in these interesting times we live in, and especially in crypto. Besides, life is so much better when you stop once in a while and wonder why things are the way they are. Life is beautiful and full of surprises. It’s also much weirder than most people think.
The second quote we like to share is: “We are the signal, so don’t mind the noise”. Since everything starts with ourselves, so if we all stay grounded and focused on our goal, and keep moving on the road we’re on, things will generally and miraculously fall into place. That is, if we don’t let ourselves get distracted by the noise out there.
Blockcast.cc: Any last word guys before we end this interview. Tell us anything you want.
Bitcoinlive: Well, we have this philosophy of helping the unbanked. We are firm believers of crypto’s potential in lifting millions out of poverty, as it allows for fair redistribution of wealth thus giving everybody an equal chance and opportunity at life (from a purely financial point of view). The power of a trustless, open, neutral, disintermediating peer-to-peer means of payment, and private and secure store of wealth, will revolutionize the world as we know it, and how we do business and interact with each other. Bitcoinlive wants to spread this message, which we like to call the “Crypto Word”. We do this by informing and educating the general public about the possibilities of crypto and the developments in this space. Of course, we try to be balanced and point out the bad stuff too, because there’s a lot of that, but obviously we are biased too since we’re inclined to promote the benefits of crypto most of all.
We also do Giveaways because we believe that is the best way of spreading this message. Giveaways form the heart and soul of our social media platform. Because first of all, you can really help someone by giving them something if they need it, that’s why we tend to especially focus on the unbanked. For them the use case of crypto is the greatest, after all. Secondly, crypto, since it’s a form of money or currency, depending on your definition, is most easily spread and learned, by simply giving people some. This forces the recipient not only to create their own account, but also, after receiving it, to learn how to use, safely store, and properly manage it. And probably, it’ll enthuse them enough to learn more about the crypto space, once they come to recognize its countless benefits. That way they will tell and inform their peers, further growing the network, making crypto stronger and better. It’s sort of a viva voce (word of mouth) strategy. And, lets be honest, receiving free money is usually a nice thing, so it’s a pleasant first encounter with cryptocurrencies.
Correspondingly, there’s also a virtuous feedback loop since it helps us grow our platform too, making us bigger, therefore allowing us to eventually do more and go for bigger Giveaways. But in the end we all benefit because crypto benefits, since we believe crypto is a real improvement on the current financial system. It’s a win-win-win situation, as we like to say. Besides, giving is also a good in itself for if you let go you usually get more in return. Life oftentimes promotes reciprocity like that. So let’s go and make crypto big together!
Blockcast.cc: Thanks gentlemen. I hope we can work together closely in time to come. For those who want to catch Bitcoinlive in action, head down to their channel on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt3l-pn2ET7R3BWAp6C3XKA
