Not A New Idea

The idea of tokenization has been around for some time and began to garner serious attention back in 2016 and 2017. However, the bear market that followed put an incredible damper on the idea, especially since it was a bear market described as the “ICO Bubble”. The introduction of DeFi served only to further detract attention from this idea. The arrival of NFTs was however able to steal back the limelight, providing tokenization with some much-needed awareness.

The tokenization of real-world assets has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Obviously, the art market has been key in this development. Real estate, gold, and other collectibles have also been part of this initial shift. Tokenization moves beyond ownership and into “proof”. It is also a way to verify and confirm in an immutable manner. In my opinion, tokenization is just getting started. One of the blockchains that support the tokenization of real-world assets is Ravencoin.

Although Ravencoin recently experienced a fair amount of exposure due to Ethereum’s shift to POS, it has a tendency to float beneath the radar. So much attention is given to ETH and others. However, there are a few reasons that command my respect when it comes to Ravencoin. You also need to wonder how Ethereum has managed to capture so much attention over the years.

No ICO & No Premine

Ravencoin is almost unique in that there was no ICO and no premine. Unlike ETH, which had both, Ravencoin has an “integral authority” due to actually holding a higher moral ground. Ravencoin is similar to Bitcoin in that it is just code. Ravencoin mirrors the same “qualities” that disqualify Bitcoin from being classed as a security. This ongoing “security” debacle is yet to explode… and it’s coming!

Ethereum never had the best of conceptions. However, recent “advancements” have tainted it somewhat, in my opinion. Heavy and concentrated centralization in a project such as Ethereum is definitely not a good thing. Ravencoin has no treasury, executives, or leaders. Much is often said about the developers working on ETH. However, honestly speaking, when you think of ETH, what’s your first thought? That’s right, Vitalik!

Even though Tron Black is heavily involved with the public when it comes to Ravencoin, there doesn’t seem to be that cult-like scenario that is so prevalent in so many other projects. I think much of my appreciation of Ravencoin comes down to ethics. It appears to be a lot less contaminated by traditional power players and egocentric personalities. That’s all good and well you might say, but is it a good investment?

Performance & Future Potential

Well, that’s the million-dollar question that applies to every other altcoin, including Ravencoin. So many projects look good on paper and have tremendous potential, and yet never really make it. On the other hand, past performance is one way of discerning how the market views a particular project. Ironically, Ravencoin launched at the peak of the 2017 bull market. Bitcoin topped in December 2017. However, alts peaked around January/February of the following year.

Ravencoin was launched in January of 2018 (began trading in March) and yet managed to perform exceptionally well despite the bear market. I want to compare Ravencoin’s performance to a relatively strong project such as Cardano. In the screenshot below you will be able to note that ADA dropped from approximately $1.08 in January to a bear market low of approximately $0.018.

In the same period, RVN dropped from approximately $0.025 to approximately $0.0089. If Cardano dropped in similar percentage terms, it would have only dropped to $0.39. However, it fell all the way down to $0.018. When you make such a comparison you begin to see how well RVN weathered the storm and managed to secure investor confidence.

Ravencoin also went on to surge from the low of $0.0089 to as high as $0.41 (depending on the exchange you reference) during the bull market of 2021. That’s almost a 50X, which is pretty reasonable. Unlike ETC, RVN actually has a use case. ETC ultimately exists for miners. There is no real relevance to the project. I suspect that over time, Ravencoin will gain even more ETC miners.

Adoption

A quick visit to the official Ravencoin Twitter account will reveal that adoption is starting to pick up and there is real utility taking place. Proof of ownership, NFTs, tokenized real-world assets, project shares, and more. An excerpt from Binance Feed gives a short and concise explanation of Ravencoin.

The Ravencoin platform was developed by Bruce Fenton, Tron Black, and Joel Weight with the goal of enabling instant transactions between users around the world. The created token assets on the network can represent anything from fiat currencies to gold, including virtual goods and material objects, stocks and securities, etc. What Raven Network does is that it modernizes tangible world tradable assets and makes it more convenient for crypto users to gain rights to them.

This is ultimately the future of ownership and exchange. The fact that 100% of Ravencoin’s supply is issued to the public is another aspect that makes me more bullish. Creating tokens also requires 500 RVN to be burned, ultimately reducing supply. The greater the adoption, the greater the reduction. Factor in that RVN does not sit on the fence in regard to the “security debate” is yet another very important aspect, in my opinion.

Final Thoughts

Ravencoin is a project I am happy to load up on over time. I think that many people make the mistake of thinking it is like ETC, in that exists solely for mining purposes. There needs to be more awareness, but that’s the downside to not having a treasury and premining your way forward. I like the fact that Ravencoin chose ethics above growth. It’s actually quite commendable. Thanks for joining me on this dive into Ravencoin. See you next time.