Crypto companies have been rebranding en masse in a bid to ditch the old bad fame and make sure they are prepared for the world of tomorrow. A world, which apparently has crypto currencies in it. This is good news, but rebrands are usually rather difficult. Think Coca Cola and remind yourself how the brand tried to go under the name of “New Coke” back in 1985.
Too bad that organized crime had another thing in mind about the patent “coke”. Establishing brand awareness is difficult and once you do, you really wouldn’t want to risk it. Want more examples? Fine! Think MasterCard, Tropicana, Gap and many others. And yet, some companies have been actively looking to assume a new identity and break away rom the ties of the past.
Rebranding in the Crypto Sector – Possibility or Myth?
There have been many rebranding operations in recent months, especially in the crypto sector. Kraken, Shapeshift, Zcash Company and even the famous Litecoin have all found new identities in one bid alone – attracting mainstream consumers.
But how is such a thing possible? After all, cryptocurrencies are marginalized and they are not really subject of much love by central banking bodies. True, some companies such as J.P. Morgan has made a complete U-turn on their stance of the crypto assets, but this doesn’t bode well for the sector in its entirety. Or does it?
J.P. Morgan, though is coming from an entirely different place. They don’t want to “unpeg” the crypto asset from a central banking body, as many other companies are trying to do. Instead, J.P. Morgan’s crypto asset is solely contingent on how the Federal Reserve performs.
Back to our original query though, the reason for such a massive rebranding action in the industry can be chalked up to one thing alone – maturity.
Maturity is dictating the industry’s future. Of course, it wasn’t all great, but it’s all understandable. In 2018, we saw the crypto industry take one sever blow after another and we definitely wondered – does this segment have a future? To many, it looked like that it was impossible for crypto to survive.
But here we are, in 2019, and all systems are go. And herein lies the reason why many companies have decided to start rebranding in 2019. The limits have been reached, and it’s high time to push past the known traditional bastion. It’s time to go mainstream.
Cryptonews.com talked to Bitcoin analyst Simon Dingle who had the following to say:
One would be forgiven for thinking that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were doomed after the hype of 2017 subsided and we entered the current bear market. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Bitcoin is alive and well, and great progress has been made on the project since the beginning of 2018. The network has actually grown in terms of computing power during this time, and great progress has been made in protocol scaling solutions like the Lightning network, which now has an order of magnitude more nodes connected than at this time last year.
And so, crypto currencies have grown by a fair lick, but the fact of the matter remains that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to encourage broader adoption. Without being endorsed by the mainstream, it’s very unlikely that the segment can continue as is. Instead, it will need to do something completely different – get involved with the mainstream.
Adapt or Die – This Is the Nom
It’s a very fair observation. In order for companies to survive, they will have to really push themselves and try to meet consumer demands. Bitcoin’s unsustainable electricity-hungry model is not going to be valid for much longer. Kraken and ShapeShift have been among the first companies to realise this.
So, what have the companies done? They’ve adapted in order to be up to scratch with all that matters. ShapeShift has even implemented the Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process. Yes, so much about anonymity, but this in turn brings better stability.
Going mainstream alone won’t suffice. Just like many mainstream companies, crypto giants will have to figure out ways to cater to specific customer demands. That’s not easy nor was it supposed to be. There’s of course another important aspect to it all – what exactly are we using Bitcoin and its brethren for?
To many, Bitcoin is a way to earn money without having to deal with the state. But there’s a little more to that, really:
Right now, Bitcoin is a story of freedom and hope – one only needs to look at how it is being used in Venezuela to get a taste of this – but it is also poorly understood in mainstream media where many people lost money in 2018, and there is a misconception that Bitcoin “wastes” electricity. Crypto companies need to offer better stories, acknowledge what the market is telling them, and work harder to win hearts and minds.
This is a pivotal point for many crypto enthusiasts, too. On the one hand, crypto is supposed to do good. On the other, it is used to keep people oppressed. The goal to make the world embrace crypto now seems more far-fetched than ever, and that is one of its main problems.
In order to survive, companies will have to differentiate themselves from a sector that has repeatedly failed to preserve the integrity of brands, companies, business, and individuals.
Is Re-Branding Truly the Way to Go?
It seems to be the only way that guarantees cryptocurrencies some semblance of credibility. In order to garner customers trust, such companies will have to do quite a bit in the way of effort. They will have to produce a mainstream product that can be used by many people without any previous understanding of cryptocurrency.
Once that this has been settled and a successful product is picked up, companies will have to make sure that customers have an actual need for the product that they are offering. This is not always easy.
In essence, it means that any company that wants to expand into the mainstream will have to create some form of re-branded product that can be fully adopted by users.
Where Should Crypto Branch Out To?
There are quite a few possible picks, really, but banking is definitely a primary focus. The banking sector in Europe, backed by the European Central Bank (ECB) has said that it will pursue a strategy of adopting blockchain and fintech companies.
This is done with the sole purpose of helping banks become more competitive, but ultimately grant users with products that serve their needs without any additional redtape. One question remains, though – will the advance of fintech companies mean loss of jobs?
There are two very strong ways to examine the issue. On the one hand, people believe that specialists will simply have to requalify, which is a rather simple feat to pull off. On the other hand, there are those who believe that hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs.
This is a possibility, but it can be controlled by a central government, with the economy adopting to a more competitive type of technology.
Final Words on Re-branding
Re-branding is a form of savior in 2019. The industry has reached its level of maturity and there’s no other way to address the issues other than adapting to a more-competitive industry. There are risks of course. As it comes to mainstream, companies will no longer have the comfort of using crypto-tokens.
They will have to invest hard cash and that’s scary. Can the crypto giants really enter the game of financial giants and beat them? There are many indicators that suggest that such an experiment entails very high risk of failure.
However, in order to survive, the crypto giants of yesterday will have to show up in the spotlight with brand new faces in a bid to prove their worth to a very demanding segment of customers.
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