Decrypt Season 2019

Altcoins haben 2019 bislang viel schlechter als Bitcoins abgeschnitten. Was sind die möglichen Gründe? Und wie wirken sich die 2017–2018 in ICOs angelegten Mittel auf die Märkte aus?

So far in 2019, altcoins have underperformed Bitcoin by a fair margin. What are the potential reasons for this? And how do funds originally invested in ICOs in 2017-2018 affect the markets?

A wide range of products and protocols are now available in decentralized finance. However, one element of a holistic, decentralized financial ecosystem is still missing: derivatives. What efforts are being made to bring derivatives on-chain? What are the benefits?

Several cryptocurrencies include mechanisms by which coins or tokens are destroyed, or “burned” – reducing the total supply. How do token prices react to this?

Seasonal patterns are well-known to stock and commodity traders. Does Bitcoin – officially classified as a commodity in the U.S. – also show seasonality? What is the best time of day, weekday, or month to buy Bitcoin?

Operating a decentralized, peer-to-peer electronic cash network such as Bitcoin comes with a great deal of complexity compared to centralized alternatives. Why should one care about decentralization? And how is decentralization measurable?

Adding a ledger entry to a decentralized blockchain comes at a cost – a transaction fee. Different functionalities among blockchains require different fee models. Which ones are currently applied? And what are the long-term implications of fees for the markets?

Bitcoin distribution is often claimed to be highly centralized in the hands of few early investors. But how does that picture change over time? And what can be learned from other stores of value, such as gold?

Broadly defined, governance is a set of processes that include opinion-forming and decision-making. Without some sort of governance, progress would stall. In decentralized systems, such as public blockchains, the question arises: Who gets to decide?