Blockchain technology is an ever-evolving tool that is advancing at a very rapid pace. New use cases and applications are popping up on a daily basis as new projects come up and older projects evolve. This course is meant only to serve as an introduction that will allow you to further explore the potential applications of blockchain. With a vibrant and active community, there are plenty of external resources available to explore this technology further.
Blockchain is not meant to be a solution to all of the current issues with the Internet - why fix something that’s not broken? Instead, it is meant to offer an alternative to an existing system. Cryptocurrency is likely not going to entirely replace fiat currencies, but rather it’s a much better medium for sending money and storing wealth. Similarly, blockchain will likely not replace all aspects of the Web but rather will likely serve as a backend to replace centralized data systems.
With more and more people having now heard of cryptocurrency and companies leaning more and more into blockchain technology, the future of blockchain is bright. While the market size of blockchain projects was only $17.5 billion in 2023, the industry has a massive compound annual growth rate of 88%, meaning it is expected to reach a valuation of $1.4 trillion by 2030. Cryptocurrencies are expected to achieve a similarly massive rate of growth, with Bitcoin’s market cap already sitting at over $1.2 trillion. 2024 saw both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF launches, letting traditional financial markets and their investors have access to the cryptocurrency market.
When being active in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, please always remember to stay secure and always double check every transaction you make.
- Avoid putting all your money into one wallet and instead spread it across multiple wallets with a cold wallet for primary storage of funds
- Write down your seed phrases for every wallet you make and have those seed phrases stored in a secure location
- Always use 2-Factor Authentication for any centralized exchanges or banking confirmations
- Always check to make sure the site you connect your wallet to is legitimate and remember to periodically terminate connections to sites once you finish using them
- Always double check all dApp sites and only use official links
This course was meant to be an introduction to the amazing blockchain ecosystem and what this technology is truly capable of. I highly encourage you to find topics within this course that stand out and intrigue you, and to further research those topics. I also encourage you to go and experience the DeFi ecosystem for yourself and see what it truly has to offer!