I agree with both assessments. Like any technology, cryptocurrency's impact is likely to be different in different areas of the world. Security cameras and facial recognition software are great examples of how a technology can be both beneficial and detrimental, depending upon the government's nature and intent. In countries with strong civil liberty protections, that technology can be a relatively non-intrusive way to identify criminal and terrorist threats. In other countries, that same technology can be used to monitor the citizenry, chill basic liberties, or facilitate a centralized 'social credit' system. Digital currencies can be a powerful tool when they remain decentralized and inclusive. In the hands of the wrong centralized entity, however, the technology has the potential to be used to further control the people.

Slippery slope, indeed.

True enough. It is difficult to judge how long it might take for market recovery. 2017 came on like gangbusters and generated a lot of interest in the crypto industry largely because so many people had no idea what it was all about. Then many jumped into the markets based on a misconception: that crypto was the latest easy-money scheme and an all-but-certain path to quick riches. Unfortunately, that speculative train raced out in front of real-world usefulness and took a lot of the focus away from more important matters like accessibility, widespread adoption, and utility. And when the speculative bubble started to pop, the media and many outside observers - many of whom had been predicting a crash since the prices began to skyrocket - were only too eager to dance on crypto's imaginary grave and proclaim themselves vindicated.

The important thing is to ignore those nattering nabobs of negativism* who comprise the crypto-critics' version of the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history, and focus on real-world applications that build value over time. Speculative bubbles come and go, but innovation has its own way of taking root and changing everything around it. That's why DNotes will succeed where others fail. The team and most in the DNotes community have always understood that this is a long-term effort that has little to do with short-term swings in coin prices on the exchanges. In the short-term, those price swings do nothing to help the billions of people around the world for whom digital currency technology offers a new and brighter future of untold wealth, job creation, and financial self-empowerment. As a long-term venture, DNotes represents a real and tangible solution that can help provide those opportunities in an open, inclusive, and transformative way.

* Credit for this phrase goes to former VP Spiro Agnew, and his speechwriter William Safire