You know how they used to say that life and society seemed to be going at an ever increasing pace in the beginning of the 21st century? Well you ain't seen nothing yet.
I remember 3 years ago, life seemed so full of potential, and technology was going to improve everything, and it did, for a while. But then came disaster.
Back then, I was moving out of a poor austerity-filled south-european country, after the financial debauchery of the previous decade in the worldwide financial system. I was gonna try my luck in Scandinavia, and at the begining of that year I had invested a total of €50 in 3 major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, and most importantly, Dogecoin.
As time went on, these three currencies absolutely exploded in value, but perhaps not in a way that you are imagining.
Bitcoin rode the wave upwards moderately until the big Wallstreet guys got a hold of it. Turns out, Bitcoin was perfect to buy stock with, and all those fancy financial products made to confuse people. This made Bitcoin rise, at its peak, to $80k/BTC. This also made Bitcoin impossible to be used by normal people and regular businesses, and thus became the official currency of the financial world, who grew ever more complex and automated.
Litecoin was a stranger case, apparently stuck in a limbo between what Bitcoin was worth in early 2014 and the contemporary Bitcoin, being more widely accepted in stores and with upper-middle class people, and also serving as a reserve for the massive financial profits. Litecoin also saw a big bubble after June 2nd 2016 until the end of the year, the date when 50% of all Litecoins had been mined, thus raising more concerns over its scarcity
Dogecoin was a surprise to everyone as it swiftly became the de facto internet currency, rising to $5/DOGE at its peak. Since most businesses started becoming represented online, it wasn't long before Dogecoin became the most popular and widely used crypto-currency for everyone. Of course, it was rebranded over time, the Doge mascot slowly abandoned, but overall the name was kept, although many were still unsure how to pronounce it.
Things were exploding, and it seemed we were on the way to fast-paced progress once more. But we were losing an unseen battle with machines, and it all came crashing down on September 22nd, 2017. I'm of course, talking about High Frequency Trading.
I was not able to retrieve much information on specifics, but despite the growing intelligence of the algorithms that controlled a larger fraction of financial trading, were still not as intelligent as we had hoped. Where some had relied solely on them to profit, others saw the future and merged their decisions with theirs in a symbiotic relationship, barely managing to avoid the crisis. This crisis, a devastating reminder of how History repeats itself, evaporated aproximately a fifth of the worldwide economy in 1.25 seconds. We are now left alone to pick-up the pieces and start fresh, afraid of what the future holds, and for the first time in a long while, afraid of machines.
Dogecoin is playing a big part in reconstructing our markets, just like it did 3 years before, as it showed many people the power of cryptocurrencies. However, like all markets, it is under pressure of big amounts of money, and can be manipulated by big institutions.
Let us hope that in the future, the sense of community that binds the first dogecoin users serves as a model for all, to prevent the unthinkable to occur once again.
Peace
EDIT: TL;DR: we might all be richshibes in a few years, but we should always have Community Before Profit. Would you rather be a lone wolf on Wall Street (btc), building castles in clouds or a doge on main street and being there for one another? Tighten your leash because it will a bumpy ride!
