If you’re worried that you missed your spot on the cryptocurrency wagon, have no fear. According to Bitcoin billionaire and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, we’re still “at the beginning of the beginning.” It’s an encouraging message and one that suggests that there’s still plenty of time to hop on board.



Zhao’s message is in response to a Twitter user who suggested that he’d missed out on Bitcoin in its obscurity in 2013. At the time, the technology was still widely unknown and still in its infancy. At the time, Bitcoin moved from $13 to $947. Currently, the first digital currency floats around $3,600 – and this is a price at which Bitcoin has taken a heavy beating.

More to Come

Zhao’s response was encouraging those both those new to the space and those who consider themselves veterans in the community. He suggests that with Bitcoin, the best is yet to come and that those interested have not missed the boat.



This is exactly how many people felt in 2013 when the price started to move up. They believed they had missed the train, envying those who were wise enough to get in while the getting was good. The message now is the same as it was then. We’re still at the beginning of the beginning.

Zhao and Voorhees Exchange Pleasantries

The thread began when Shapeshift CEO Erik Voorhees gave Zhao a compliment based around the success of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange:



“One cannot but be impressed and inspired by the incredible success that Binance has achieved over the last 1.5 years. CZ Binance, it’s been awesome watching your ascent, keep up the good building.”



Zhao responded in like fashion by sharing that meeting the Shapeshift CEO in 2013 was the beginning of his crypto career and a source of “good inspiration.”



Here you can see the thread, along with the comment from one user who wished he’d converted to crypto earlier.

One-Third of Shapeshift Workforce Laid Off

It’s easy to see how those who are just now getting into crypto feel like they missed out. As this Crypto Winter continues to drag on, companies like Shapeshift are forced to let workers go. In January, the firm laid one-third of its workforce off, as Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market continues to get hammered.



Voorhees accepted the blame for the sad state of the firm but stated that part of his job at the CEO is to take calculated financial risks.



“As a company,” Voorhees stated, “our greatest and worst financial decision is the same: to embrace substantial exposure to crypto assets. Must of our balance sheet is comprised of them. We accept the volatility, we accept the risk.” Voorhees went on to say that he could “lay this mistake at nobody’s feet but my own.”



Even though the market continues through its bear cycle, those entrenched in crypto firmly believe there is a marvelous revolution ahead of us that will disrupt entire markets and industries. One such industry would be our current financial system.



Zhao, for instance, completely believes that Binance will still be in existence a century from now since cryptocurrencies are still just getting started.



He says that “Binance is ready to survive any number of years, no matter if it’s bear or bull…Our aim is much longer than another year. Our aim is 10, 50, 100 years. So we’ll be here for a while…Once I learned about crypto and how Bitcoin works, I just understood that’s the future.”

Crypto is the Future

The good news for those in the crypto community is that Zhao isn’t the only one that feels this way. Tim Draper, a tech billionaire with a positive outlook on the crypto industry, predicts that cryptocurrency will eventually take over fiat currencies and will hold two-thirds of the global currency value.



Draper says that “It’s going to be better for people. They’re going to move to crypto and they’re going to move away from the political currency – they call it fiat. That’s the way it’s going to move.”



“It’s going to be better for people. They’re going to move to crypto and they’re going to move away from the political currency – they call it fiat. That’s the way it’s going to move.”

It should be known, however, the Draper is very bullish on Bitcoin. He stands firm in his belief that the cryptocurrency will hit $250,000 by the year 2022. Market setbacks for the short-term, like the one we’re currently experiencing, don’t bother him the way it does with those that have the mindset of a day-trader.



It Crypto Inevitable?

Draper believes cryptocurrencies are game-changing, disruptive, and will lead to a financial revolution.



“I tend to move my dollars into Bitcoin,” he says. “Because why would I want this currency that’s tied to some political force when I have a currency that is going to be frictionless and global? I would much rather have a global currency than one that is sort of tied to a political force.”



Draper, like so many other crypto-enthusiasts, believes the technology will continue to see spikes and drops. All great inventions have gone through similar cycles, however, the market continues moving forward like a well-oiled machine. To many, cryptocurrency is simply the next logical step.



The similarities between cyrpto and the internet are strikingly similar. It came in a few big waves, but then it all crashed. After that, the next waves arrived, but they were much bigger and more heavily concentrated, and now it’s an integral part of our lives.



If the same is true for crypto, is it simply an inevitability?

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