By the time the DotCom Boom had peaked in 2000 my Internet Business was already starting to stagnate.  One of my big mistakes with the entire venture was that I was trying to grow the business organically and locally, while my competitors were spending bucket loads of easy money (from various Capital Raisings) to buy market share.  While I was growing, they were growing by a lot more and they were undercutting me.  I’ll talk more about that in Part 4, but there was one big warning that I should have taken heed of at the time the DotCom Boom was peaking.  One signal that my older self is now on the lookout for.  A signal that should have warned me to get out because we were near the top…

<center>![DotCom.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPyRr975uH2iosyUmAFjbt2p6H718yDLuKLgF1fg7CwZf/DotCom.jpg)
[Source](https://steemkr.com/bitcoin/@robsverdict/is-bitcoin-like-the-dot-com-bubble)</center> 

It was a quieter day in the shop (my Internet Café) and this very nice lady came in and started apologising to me.  I was a little bit dumbfounded at the time, but she was trying to explain to me that the local City Library was now offering cheap/free internet access and while she had resisted it she was sorry that it was happening.  Of course, my naïve younger self felt bad for her and I immediately forgave her.  I didn’t think a lot of it at the time because I had a reasonable number of regular locals who would come in to use my internet terminals and I had built a rapport with most of them.  However, I was complacent and I didn’t realise at the time that her apology was a warning and a death knell.  A decent segment of my business was now competing with the taxpayer and it wasn’t a level playing field.

<center>![playingfield.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZXsXB9nm14n9jjwUt6JabSKxH9TyNxafyYS39esSiTsb/playingfield.jpg)
[Source](http://blakepenfold.com/news/post/reforms-to-business-rates-appeals-system-3/unlevel-playing-field)</center>

I still would do OK during the Summer months when tourists would visit, and I still had some business from the gamers – though let’s face it, they were kids and hardly cashed up customers.  I didn’t really notice a turning point where I started losing my local regulars, but the Internet Café business started to dry up as the DotCom bubble was peaking.  In hindsight there was a lesson for me here too, but it would take me years to realise it.

<center>![slowlearner.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNi4GH9DwU93Rs5ibkkNJXdSD3s1ZQCXANPKUFh1eQHB7/slowlearner.jpg)
[Source](https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/2266293-funny-joke-slow-learner-funny-joke-statement-humor)</center>

Governments, politicians and even public servants are bandwagon jumpers.  They often come in late on a trend and try to gain some control or kudos from it.  In the Crypto space we are probably seeing the first signs of it with talk of Fed Coin, or the Petero in Venezuela, or the Russians are talking about launching their own Cryptocurrency.  They all seem ham-fisted proposals at this point and nobody takes them very seriously.  But they will eventually get their act together, as will the regulators.

<center>![bandwagon.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNr1Y8hAD6nLCixFDWHxzkLjwGtp3bpYBcpZrKnY8vA7j/bandwagon.jpg)
[Source](http://persuasionpursuit.com/bandwagon-effect-marketing-use-sell-storm)</center>

The big power of governments in this story is that they are backed by the taxpayer and they can therefore subsidise their own product with taxpayer money.  Once we start getting mainstream adoption that means there are going to be votes to be gained by being pro-Crypto and getting on the bandwagon.  If we get something like Fed Coin as a Stable Crypto, backed by the US Government and with subsidised transaction fees and taxpayer funded infrastructure….who is going to want to use Bitcoin?  A lot of Crypto Zealots like to think that this technology revolution is an idealistic movement – all about decentralisation and Anarcho-Capitalism or Libertarianism.  But for the average Joe, it’s about money, it’s about ease of use and it’s about usefulness (utility).  Do not make the same mistake I did and expect there to be any loyalty shown to Bitcoin, or other Cryptos, once the Taxpayer moves in to compete.

<center>![noloyalty.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVpEA4voNdRxoUPQC8tPy4x1J8NP6NXA7rintA38zLT4Y/noloyalty.png)
[Source](https://www.21triangles.com/Blog/why-you-shouldnt-reward-employees-for-loyalty)</center>

I might be wrong about all this, and I genuinely hope that I am because I am a Libertarian myself and despite my cynicism I still am a bit of an idealist at heart.  But if I see a serious and half-competent move by Government into the Crypto space as we are in the process of gaining mainstream adoption….well that is probably the time to ring the bell and exit stage left.

_____

<center>![teamaustralia_buggedout.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWCrK7urK9GbkFSPGLY2HXBVeLfGMh29B5E9foVDNso4H/teamaustralia_buggedout.png)</center>

<center>**Images and Credits**
http://blakepenfold.com
https://www.teepublic.com 
http://persuasionpursuit.com 
https://www.21triangles.com </center>