As a long time investor in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, 2017 has been remarkable. But it's important to remember, this is really just the beginning.

Despite the valuations, major protocols remain deficient in delivering value to users. Bitcoin with it's high fees and slow transaction times is hardly suitable for payments – spending the same feewhether you buy a coffee or send $100,000 is a joke and the promise of scaling solutions such as the Lightning Network hasn’t been fulfilled.

Suffice to say, its new positioning as a store of value is precarious, even if, judging by the huge uptick in bitcoin price, the store of value narrative is winning for now.

While there's no shortage of old and new believers to keep the party going, along with plenty of developers working to create better, forked versions of bitcoin, I’m betting my chips on a more flexible alternative.

The door is wide open for blockchains that use smart contracts, like ethereum, and I believe their potential market dwarfs that of "store of value" chains. Platforms like ethereum are an operating system for decentralized finance and commerce.

They power applications – lots of them.

Read here: https://www.coindesk.com/2017-bitcoins-year-2018-will-ethereums/