ZERO Interest Club: Who and Why is Not Really Into Crypto?

When we hear people saying “ICO is a scam”, it does not even make news anymore. With fraud coin offerings of the last year, everyone sort of got used to such talk. However, there is a category of people whose opinion about cryptocurrencies actually matters. When CEO and founder of Wikipedia goes to the media saying about having zero interest in ICO, it catches attention.

Who else among big cats don’t like ICOs and why?

Jimmy Wales is not the only tech community leader to publicly display his mistrust in ICO. In fact, it seems to be a thing now: occasionally one CEO of a big company has to stand up and criticize ICO, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies. Who else doesn’t like ICO and blockchain much and why?

Google

The question that bugs the entire blockchain community is why Google is not doing pretty much anything with blockchain? Having a status of one of the most innovative companies (if not the most innovative), it is at the very least strange that Google does not bother with taking blockchain on the next level.

The real wave of the talk about Google’s attitude towards blockchain and ICO started when the company followed Facebook’s example and banned cryptocurrencies’ ads and ICO’s promotion. The web was tormented by a question: Does Google not like ICO very much?

There was no official proof of Google executives saying that they don’t particularly trust ICO, however, it could be that actions speak louder than words. When a company like Google remains indifferent towards a big innovation and takes a step towards banning ICO promotion, it gives some nice food for thought.

Why could it be that Google doesn’t particularly like ICO?

Sergey Brin says”We probably already failed to be on the bleeding edge, I’ll be honest”. He does not explain why it happened but we are free to try and guess. Perhaps, Google gave the technology the time to prove itself and while they were waiting, others were “moving fast and breaking things”.

That said, CNBC publication indicated that Google still might join some very promising blockchain product in the future. Some say Google can seriously revisit its ICO ban as well. We’ll see.

Facebook

When Facebook banned crypto ads from the platform, there were all kinds of guesses of the company’s attitude towards technology. Some said it’s because Facebook doesn’t like ICOs very much. Others thought it indicated the company’s plans on starting their very own cryptocurrencies.

This ban became news right away — and rightfully so. Source: https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/740_Ly9jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS9zdG9yYWdlL3VwbG9hZHMvdmlldy8yOWI4MTU1OTQ2MmRiNTMyZmQwMTM2MDkzMzZhODE0My5qcGc=.jpg

Official Facebook’s explanation of the matter was brief:

“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception. That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith.”

This, however, is not necessarily a proof that Facebook exactly doesn’t trust blockchain and initial coin offerings. The truth is, there is definitely a lot of scam going on so the decision is hardly questionable.

Now, of course, when the ban is gradually being reversed from the platform, we have even fewer reasons to conclude that Facebook doesn’t like cryptocurrencies.

Rumor has it, the company is even launching something big with the technology. The motives are quite transparent through: Facebook has the fear of missing out (but bear in mind, it’s just a speculation).

The risk of missing out — just in case the crypto evangelists are correct and blockchain technology turns out to be bigger than the internet revolution — is too great to ignore.

WIRED’s expert Erin Griffith

J.P. Morgan

Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan, is known to hate Bitcoin but love blockchain (perhaps, it would be wiser to include him not to the zero-interest group but rather to the love-hate club). Mr. Dimon repeatedly said that Bitcoin is a fraud that will be definitely crashed by the government but he also added that blockchain as a technology, is very promising.

Moreover, J.P. Morgan’s tech team is even working on a huge blockchain solution. As Financial Times reported, it could be the improved version of Quorum, a blockchain platform for cross-border payments and settlement of derivatives.

The club is getting smaller

With the growth of blockchain and development of ICO market, it’s difficult for companies to maintain that zero-interest attitude. Inevitably they find themselves in a situation where it’s crucial to invest in blockchain whether they like it or not. Just in case.

In fact, Deloitte research proved that in average 3 of 4 companies find blockchain to be a compelling tech solution for their business.

Deloitte asked 1000 respondents who are the representatives of worldwide companies with annual sales of $500 million and more. 34 percent indicated that they already have a blockchain solution developed and launched, 41 percent said that it will be launched in less than a year.

The amount of made investments in the technology, according to Deloitte research

What do we make of these results?

Three things are apparent here.

1. We will see a lot of blockchain innovation this year or the next one. Should be fun.
2. The competition is getting tough and those companies who wish to stay at the edge of technology, have to innovate and innovate now.
3. Blockchain is not going anywhere even if several big companies and their CEOs still remain skeptical.

This, however, is not entirely good news

2017 and 2018 have proven to be the years of blockchain madness and as we saw from statistics, the situation is likely to continue. While such development will definitely bring exciting improvements, we’ll also see a lot of empty promises and hear sales pitches with no meaning behind them.

Long Blockchain is just another proof that events developed not how anyone expected.

On January 2018, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton warned companies that from now on they have to be way more careful with pinning in the word “blockchain” to right and left. This started plenty discussions in blockchain and ICO community but after a beverage company Long Island Iced Tea renamed to Long Blockchain and had a stock increase of 500% in just one day, everyone knew something is not right.

All this token thing is unclear

A few years ago, when Triggmine was only at the beginning of its path, tokens resembled a kind of exotic fruit for most of us. And now, there are …

[Bet you can hardly imagine the number of different tokens circulating in today’s digital universe]

1771. That’s the number. At least, Coinmarketcap claims so. It turns that the usage of these tokens is at least doubtful. “Buy our tokens,” they say. “Be a digital winner.” “Look to the future.” “Don’t miss your chance”. We all know how it works.

The major drawback of blockchain projects is that they have difficulties in providing mathematical and economical grounds to make their tokens attractive.

A final thought

To maintain a positive reputation of ICO and blockchain, it’s logical to oversee whether the business owners’ intentions are legit or not. One thing is apparent though: sooner or later zero-interest club will disappear. Blockchain is not to be ignored anymore.