What a ride! The total market cap of Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies combined passed $420 billion for the first time yesterday! For some perspective, keep in mind that the global market cap passed $100 billion for the first time in early June. It hit $200 billion five months later in early November, then about three weeks later hit $300 billion. It only took ten more days for the total market cap to pass $400 billion.

With some exceptions, overall, the rest of the cryptocurrency prices trend upward when Bitcoin Core (BTC) is going up. Bitcoin Core has been on a meteoric rise, with nearly a 2000% increase in its US dollar value in the last twelve months! Yesterday, BTC eclipsed over $16,000 according to BitcoinAverage.com. Two days prior to that, it was at $12,000.

When will these steady gains come to an end? Hard to say. Many fear a huge crash is coming, but then again cryptocurrency is uncharted territory. Just because there was a big crash in bitcoin in 2013 doesn’t mean anything for what’s happening now. The market was so small then by comparison to today. If you look at the market cap chart above, you can see that “big” crash at the end of 2013 – but it barely registers as a little speed bump, peaking then at around $13 billion, when compared to the monstrous $420 billion of value in all cryptos today.

Obviously, rule number one of investing is don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose. If you’ve got money in cryptocurrency and you’re spooked and want to cash out, go ahead, just don’t cash it all out. Also, consider diversifying into other cryptocurrency besides BTC. That said, rule number one of bitcoin has always been to hold on for the ride. Don’t let the downs get to you. They will come at some point; the only question is how deep the price drop will be and for how long. It’s important to keep perspective – we’re still in the early days of this. Even though bitcoin is coming up on its ninth year of existence, it’s still young compared to all other forms of money that have been with us for centuries. This is new territory and anything can happen.

We’re all subject to our emotions and beliefs. I got spooked and sold some of the Shire Free Church‘s bitcoin for cash prior to the much-feared “Segwit2x” fork of Bitcoin that was supposed to happen in November, but never materialized. That bitcoin would now be worth three times as much USD had we held it.

Despite the constantly rising price likely from all kinds of people jumping aboard after BTC passed the $10,000 mark, Bitcoin Core itself is broken as a currency. As proof, major online gaming platform “Steam” has decided to stop accepting BTC due to the insane fees. This year, the median fee to send BTC transactions has risen to over $15 worth of BTC (over 100,000 satoshis – the smallest fraction of a bitcoin – at this moment according to earn.com). The problem with the fees comes from the fact that Bitcoin Core’s network is and has been full of transactions. The Bitcoin Core developers’ failure to fix the problem (some even have claimed the high fees are good) resulted in the the historic first “forking” of Bitcoin into Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash is the #3 cryptocurrency in the world ranked by market cap, though it’s less than a tenth the size of Bitcoin Core’s over $270 billion valuation.

How long can BTC’s value continue to increase as its usefulness as an actual currency (which it used to be) decreases? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, in the twin cryptocurrency capitals of the world, Portsmouth and Keene, New Hampshire, top-ten crypto DASH aka “Digital Cash” has exploded into the brick-and-mortar marketplace as a point-of-sale solution for merchants who previously had only accepted Bitcoin Core (BTC). Sadly, due to Bitcoin Core’s insane fees (and constantly rising price), fewer people have been willing to pay for goods in Keene with the world’s first cryptocurrency.

Enter crypto-entrepreneurs Steven Zeiler and Derrick J Freeman (both are bloggers here at Free Keene). This summer, they launched a retail-targeted cryptocurrency merchant service provider, Anypay from their office in Portsmouth, NH which is also North America’s first crypto-only retail shop, the Free State Bitcoin Shoppe. Anypay is competing directly with longtime bitcoin merchant service provider Bitpay and is soundly defeating Bitpay in nearly every category. It’s easier to sign up, install the point-of-sale system, and most-importantly, they allow retailers to accept multiple cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin Core (BTC), DASH, Litecoin (LTC), and they’re currently testing Bitcoin Cash.

As a result of Anypay’s entry into the retail market in NH, real-life merchants willing to accept BTC are also adding DASH! Check out Coinmap.org to see the proof: Portsmouth, the “Crypto Village” and Keene, the “Crypto Outpost” have more cryptocurrency-accepting businesses-per-capita than major cities worldwide. We even beat many big cities like Boston in raw numbers. In Keene, over the past several months we’ve seen Hot Hogs BBQ, Zach Pearo Massage, and D’s Cafe begin accepting both BTC and DASH. Plus, longtime BTC accepting businesses Corner News, Little Zoe’s Pizza, Kirby’s Q, and Local Burger have also implemented DASH acceptance! The soon-to-open mosque in Keene, the MALIC Center , raised over 1/3 of its budget in cryptocurrency donations – a historic first for Islam – and is accepting contributions in BTC, DASH, and several other cryptocurrencies.

It’s exciting to be a cryptocurrency user in New Hampshire, where cryptocurrency is growing in real life. If you’re a libertarian who is into cryptocurrency, you really ought to move here and join the fun. Bring your crypto wealth with you. Things are getting interesting.

If you want to get connected with others from the Shire who are into cryptocurrency, check out the NH Crypto Forums here.