Bitcoinist's Allen Scott Explains Shift in Crypto Markets, News Industry

Crypto markets continue to be extremely volatile in 2018. With the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other large cap coins on the move, the need for real-time information and news has never been more important. An explosion of offerings of these instruments has coincided with a rise in the dedicated crypto news companies. This includes Bitcoinist, which has seen its readership soar over the past year.

Finance Magnates spoke with Allen Scott, the Chief Editor at Bitcoinist for his perspective and understanding on the fast moving crypto markets. As the driving force behind Bitcoinist, Mr. Scott foreshadowed several predictions of where the industry is headed as well as the inner workings behind Bitcoinist's operations.

What was the impetus behind you returning to Bitcoinist full time?

Following the waning moon for Bitcoin price, McDonalds said I was over-qualified and rejected my application. But in all seriousness, Bitcoinist experienced exponential growth over the past year climbing from about 50,000 on Alexa Rankings to under 5,000 in a span of a few months. We now receive over 2.5 million unique visitors per month.

We’ve now assembled a talented team of editors and writers who I believe can deliver some quality journalism, which I think this space desperately needs. I believe my experience would only help to achieve this goal. Also, Bitcoin is cheap right now. And the best way to get it, is to work for it.

Crypto markets are constantly in a state of flux, as highlighted by the past few months. In what ways does this impact the crypto news industry?

The number of Bitcoinist’s visitors has directly correlated with Bitcoin price and Google Trends – so I’m not surprised the current price correction is also correcting our numbers to the downside.

However, this is happening across-the-board for the entire industry. Everyone who I spoke with in this space has also confirmed this. Of note, ICO-focused websites have experienced the biggest drop-off following bans in Korea and China alongside ICO-advertising crackdowns by Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Personally, I believe this is cathartic. This nascent industry is admittedly rife with fraud and scams. So I believe it’s ultimately good for Bitcoin, which doesn’t have a marketing department, as well as the projects that are actually innovating and building value. I expect better quality Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term platforms and ICOs, which will usher in an even bigger hype cycle in the not-too-distant future.

How does Bitcoinist differ from other venues you have worked at previously, i.e. Cointelegraph, and Bitcoin.com?

I’m very grateful to these websites because they served as a career launchpad not only for me but some incredibly talented journalists like Aaron Van Wirdum, for example, who now writes for Bitcoin Magazine. A few others went on to write for Coindesk, Forbes as well as other big-name news sites.

However, a conflict of interest often arises between owners and employees, presenting a dilemma for scrupulous writers. This often involves having to choose quantity over quality or supporting ulterior motives etc.

I love Bitcoinist’s hands-off approach. It allows my team and I to organically develop our skills without any interference as long as we deliver quality content that keeps the readers coming back.

Markets move fast and there are thousands of different cryptos. How does Bitcoinist decide what to cover in such a vast space?

Besides having a finger on the pulse of Bitcoin, we keep an eye on which altcoins are getting a lot of traction and interest from traders. For example, people love reading about Ripple and Monero. Tron, Verge. A lot of novel coins also get tons of views since many of our readers are also investors looking for information.

Could you tell me about Bitcoinist’s team? Who are its core members and what is their background?

We have three editors in total including myself along with a handful of core writers who we depend on for daily news articles. There are also others who contribute less frequently at their own pace. We’re a decentralized, global team with writers from all over the world.

Bitcoinist is one of the more established names in crypto, what is the company’s goal and current vision?

Yeah, Bitcoinist has been around since 2014 – and four years is like forty in Bitcoin. But the vision is very simple: providing our readers with informative, straight and to-the-point quality news and insight, and filtering out the fluff.

Can you tell me about Bitcoinist’s plans for the near- and long-term future?

Near-term, Bitcoinist will get a major redesign that will be sleeker and easier on the eyes. What’s more, Bitcoinist will be hosting the Blockchaineum Conference 2.0, powered by Bitcoinist.com in Budapest, Hungary on May 23 – an event that attracted over 700 attendees last year – so we’re expecting an even bigger turnout of 1,500 this year.

Long-term we are constantly growing our readership by providing our readers with useful information and tools to navigate this uncharted territory. The mainstream media has failed at educating the public as they seem too busy associating Bitcoin with money launderers and terrorists.

In what ways will the crypto industry be changing in 2018?

If 2017 was the year of ICOs, 2018 was first looking like it might be the year of airdrops or even hard-forks. However, given the rapid pace of development of Bitcoin (and Litecoin’s) Lightning Network, I’m hopeful that this will be the year lightning zaps the competition and we’ll be sending instant and near-zero fee Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term in Bitcoin from our iPhones by year’s end.

What will the ICO market look like one year out from now?

If Bitcoin enabled everyone to be their own bank, Ethereum, for better or for worse, has enabled everyone to be their own central bank by printing money. This means regulations, but more importantly, better quality projects considering that most ICOs have failed to produce anything of real value so far for the general public besides a few price pumps.

Granted, quite a few founders (and some traders) have become fabulously wealthy during the whole ‘it’s a contribution period, not a security sale’ craze. But the problem of fleeting incentives for the founders to actually deliver – after receiving millions – needs to be resolved with new and better ICO models.

So I hope the market quickly learns from these mistakes and matures to attract more investors and actually create valuable products. Lastly, I’m hoping more projects would build on top of Bitcoin like RSK and LN rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel.

Be sure to catch up on all of Mr. Scott's updates by accessing his twitter, @badgerbitcoin