2019: What good things happened for the digital economy?

The year is ending soon. And it didn’t become a turning point, it did not cause great shock, and did not become significant. And this is not bad at all: the great storms either remained in the past or will happen in the future, and the current twelve months of stability and peace have given a respite and the opportunity to build up strength.

Bitcoin: neither a bubble nor gold

Those who believe that the first cryptocurrency is a speculative dummy, a bubble that should soon deflate, and those who are sure that bitcoin is an undoubted and fundamental value that is a complete substitute for gold, both can’t prove their case yet. Satoshi Nakamoto’s creation behaves quite standardly and predictably — just as a volatile digital asset should.

The price of bitcoin is either increasing or decreasing, the trading volume grows gradually, miners confirm transactions and mine coins, there are almost no anomalies. There is no excitement, nor alarmist moods in the community. Why is this good for Bitcoin and for the entire cryptocurrency market? Because this is a sign of health, and if Bitcoin does not get sick, then the whole market feels fine.

Central banks want digital currencies

The increased interest of many central banks in creating their own digital currencies is a phenomenon that specialists still have to evaluate. Too many different areas of life will be affected when this interest translates into something substantial: economics, politics, monetary relations. The consequences will be felt at all levels: among ordinary citizens, organizations, institutions, countries and interstate relations.

For the blockchain and crypto industry, the attention to digital currencies expressed by central banks means the recognition of the importance and high potential of these technologies and distributed ledger systems, by competent, conservative and very powerful structures.

Not all borders are closed yet

Yes, this achievement is a dubious reason for joy. It is from the category of "but it could have been worse" kind of statements. Sovereign Internet, great national firewalls, individual standards, and entire complexes of restrictions for citizens, have become a reality all over the world.

Chinese experience of filtering the Internet and creating its own government-controlled services; actions of the Iranian authorities to turn off the Internet; Russian laws aimed at isolating the local Internet from the global; the desire to cover the users of their countries with a “reliable cap” from the European, Asian and American states — all is here, but it has not yet been brought to logical conclusion: data can still cross borders, and iron curtains still have loopholes and gaps.

Fintech is still the lair of unicorns

The ideas and basic principles on which the fintech industry has grown are still relevant. Giving qualities of the digital world to financial, credit and monetary relations attracts business, it is pleasant to clients and it lures investors. For traditional credit organizations, fintech startups are competitors who hit them into their weak points, leading customers away. At the same time, they look like lifesavers: banks, and other institutions adopt the experience of modern companies, absorbing promising services, acquire something they may lack — technologies.

Wealthtech and proptech

These two fairly new areas of fintech are gaining popularity and may become mainstream. Digital services that help organize, manage and increase the wealth of consumers (wealthtech), and their property (proptech), received more than three billion dollars of investments around the world in the first half of the year. The totals for the year will be known soon, and it seems that they will not disappoint. Entrepreneurs and investors may need to take a closer look at these areas.

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