Blockchain technology attracts billions of dollars … $1.7B just from one industry!

By Tony Sagami On September 10, 201807:55 AM Eastern

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The last time cryptocurrency prices pulled back, the naysayers proclaimed that “Bitcoin is dead.” Then last week, the same crowd started chanting about the “end of Ethereum.”

Those chants grew louder after the SEC suspended trading in two cryptocurrency-based securities, Bitcoin Tracker One and Ether Tracker One, until at least Sept. 20. It cited confusion over whether these can be considered Exchange-Traded Funds.

Over the weekend, however, an unexpected voice joined the chorus — Vitalik Buterin.

He told Bloomberg that “The blockchain space is getting to a point where there’s a ceiling in sight. … There isn’t an opportunity yet for another 1,000-times growth in anything in the space anymore.”

Buterin, in case you didn’t know, is the co-founder of Ethereum.

Now, there is confusion, all right. It’s just misplaced. My colleague Juan Villaverde wrote two excellent articles about this topic — “Ethereum Myths Debunked” and “ICOs: Giant Scam or New Financial System?” — and why you might lose out if you listen to them.

As a Weiss Crypto Alert reader, you know cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology they need to function are often (erroneously) interchanged. But that has nothing to do with their respective profit potential, which is considerable.

In fact, when Juan and I look into the future for crypto and related technology, we don’t see that ceiling. However, there’s certainly a floor … and lots of room to zoom higher from it!

As Juan said to me just today, “As a cycles analyst, all this negativity tells me is this: The bottom is near, and the masses will miss it — like they always do.”

I’ll leave Juan to talk to you about the cryptocurrency side of it in your Wednesday issue. As for the technology, well, there are fortunes to be made there, too. That’s because cryptocurrencies are just one of countless applications for blockchain.

Consider blockchain’s utility across several diverse industries. And recognize that this is just the tip of the encrypted iceberg …

• Producers of digital content — musicians, publishing companies, movie makers — manage their intellectual property by securing authorship data. Then, they easily control the release of that content strictly to authorized buyers.

• Doctors and hospitals securely store your personal health records in permanent databases.

• A business tracks its goods — whether avocados or pharmaceutical drugs — through each step of the distribution chain. Result: The end buyers know the pedigree of the product, and with that, they know for sure they’re not getting stuck with counterfeit merchandise.

• Mortgage brokers store sensitive financial data and share it only with lenders authorized to access it.

• Homebuyers benefit, too, as blockchain technology could make title insurance virtually obsolete … save homebuyers billions of dollars each year … and dramatically speed up the home purchasing process.

In short, blockchain is going to transform money and business. And in the process, it’s going to deliver a huge opportunity for savvy investors.

Your banker or broker already knows this. But are they telling you about the opportunity that they are helping to create in this space?

In fact, financial services companies spent $1.7 billion on blockchain initiatives in the last year, according to Greenwich Associates.

And a brand-new IDC report says worldwide spending on blockchain solutions is set to reach $11.7 billion in 2022. According to that report, “Blockchain spending will be led by the financial sector, driven largely by rapid adoption in the banking industry.”

Bottom line …

Whenever you hear the word “billion” being thrown around, you know somebody is getting very rich in the process. And that “somebody” could be you if you invest in the companies providing the picks and shovels of the blockchain.

There are a handful of publicly traded stocks that I expect to skyrocket because of blockchain. Plus, there are already blockchain ETFs:

• Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK)

• Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF (BLCN)

• Innovation Shares NextGen Protocol ETF (KOIN)

• First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETF (LEGR)

And that’s just the beginning. Much more is on the way, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency-based ETFs that will eventually earn the SEC’s stamp of approval. I’ll tell you more about it as we march along.

Weiss Ratings currently does not assign a letter grade to these blockchain ETFs. But we are adding new cryptocurrencies all the time to our Weiss Crypto Ratings universe.

Just last week, we started coverage on the Mother of All Chains — MOAC — and told our subscribers what we think of this wannabe Ethereum-killer. And our letter grades clearly indicate whether to buy, sell or hold.

Learn more about our rating system, and see how you can get access to how we grade MOAC, Ethereum and more, when you click this link here.

Best wishes,

Tony