Precious metals will always have their place as stores of value, though in the increasingly digital world we live in, it's no surprise that cryptocurrency has catapulted to the forefront of speculative and investor interest in recent years.

Silver has been an especially disappointing store of value over the years. It just can't seem to hold its head above water. Even gold has managed to at least stay over $1000. Silver has simply collapsed in value against its all time highs in both dollar and percentage terms. It remains to be seen whether it will ever reclaim the $20s and if so, can it actually stay there and accumulate for a retest of its prior highs.

Similarly, I think the bear market that played out in precious metals will play out with cryptocurrencies that do not have broad acceptance in the global marketplace. The heavyweights like bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin are likely here to stay. Steem is uniquely positioned to rise to top contender status as steemit grows and innovates to better position itself as an outlet for all users to benefit from their content contributions and partake in the collective success of the community.