Before Bitcoin there was Gold which between the year 2000 and the year 2011 went from $ 250 an ounce to $ 1800. This meteoric rise of 620% in 11 years is 56% increase per year. This rise in the price of an ounce of gold was partly caused by the financial crisis of 2007 as can be seen in the graph below. This gold chart is available on the tradingview site [1].
It was at this very moment, shortly after the 2007 financial crisis,
that an unknown inventor introduced himself under the pseudonym of
Satoshi Nakamoto published the white paper [2] on the new digital
currency called Bitcoin (BTC) which became famous with this ₿ associated
with the two vertical bars of the dollar. For the first time the
principle of the blockchain is used to store value and exchange it with
other people. The first generation blockchain was born. It is based on
the proof of work (POW) which makes it polluting because it consumes a
lot of energy to verify transactions. It is between 2009 and 2011 that
Bitcoin began to be known to the most geeks of computer scientists. At
this moment you had to have some computer skills to get started, we'll
say that nothing was done to the general public. Between 2011 and 2018
the Bitcoin rose from $ 1 per unit to $ 19,000 per unit at the end of
2017. This rise more than exceptional made early adopters more than
rich, this represents an increase of 1,900,000% in 7 years an increase
of 271,000% per year.
By investing $ 100 in 2011 you could have obtained $ 1,900,000 at the
end of 2017, of course it is very difficult to buy and sell at the
lowest, but it is to give you an idea of the earning potential of a
savvy investor!
This Bitcoin graph is available on the tradingview
site (BTC / USD) [3]
It was in 2014 that computer scientists working on Bitcoin came up with the idea of creating a new digital currency: Ethereum (ETH), more powerful and more ambitious than Bitcoin. Ethereum is the second generation blockchain, it is created by Vitalik Buterin, Anthony Diiorio and Charles Hoskinson to name only the best known because quickly the community is enlarged and there are now more than 300 people working on this project. Like Bitcoin it is based on proof of work (POW) but the team later moved towards proof of stake (POS) Between 2015 and 2018 Ethereum increased from $ 1 per unit to $ 1389 at the beginning of the year 2018, an increase of 138,900 % in 3 years which corresponds to 46 300% per year. The Ethereum has been controversial for a few weeks because it is young and it is experiencing difficulties such as the number of transactions per second far too low currently, Transaction costs are high for some use cases. These two problems can potentially be solved by switching to the Proof of Interest (POS) For more information look at the Tetras Capital Investment Fund article which explains in detail: Ethereum the downside thesis [4] This Ethereum graph is available on the tradingview site (ETHUSD) [5]
Now that these three assets have seen significant increases, it is certain that the biggest increase is past, in fact it is more difficult to obtain a gain of 1000% or 10 000% on an asset valued $ 1200 for Gold, 7400 $ for Bitcoin or $ 150 for Ethereum. That's why the smartest are looking for what will be the next active to explode upward. What will be the third generation blockchain? Whats is coming after the blockchain ? For that you have to do research, try and analyze. And the task is not easy, there are now more and more cryptocurrencies that are created and it does not make it easy. Of course a cautious investor can always bet on Gold and Bitcoin that are considered safe assets to store value, see SOV [6]