Today, the entire blockchain/cryptocurrency hairball is itself in a massive bubble. Rather than speculation in cryptos driving the market over the cliff, however, it’s speculative interest in initial coin offerings (ICOs).
This is no mere currency play. Deep pockets with more money than sense are betting on an entire market full of startups, largely because of FOMO – ‘fear of missing out.’
All this hullabaloo is giving me a serious case of déjà vu. I’ve lived through such a bubble before – the dot-com bubble of the turn of the century.
Unlike most of the blockchain/crypto players out there who were children at the time, I saw the craziness of the dot-com runup and bust from the inside. Similarities to the current bubble abound.
Lest we make the mistakes of the past, however, it’s also important to point out the differences. In truth, the two bubbles only have superficial similarities. We can only gain wisdom by understanding both how they are alike – and how they are different.