I believe in this community, the devs, the project parameters. Everything points the right way. In the race for a privacy coin I think this project holds the most promise. I only wish I had more money to invest in my tiny alt stake right now as I feel buying more XMR would be a good investment, but I am already all in for my alt budget and don't wish to undiversify my 5 alt holdiings.
What Monero does NOT need:1.
A GUI wallet right this moment. Wallets are meaningless if the only people using them are perfectly capable of using the current cli wallet. At this point a simple wallet is a done paradigm. We have billions of those. If you want an alt with a wallet buy Litecoin. The desire expressed here to see one is understandable, but there is no reasoning behind it.
2.
A rising price. If you are using Monero as an investment then you must understand that coins with big market caps only happen on fundamentals plus zeitgeist. We've got some zeitgeist here (still) but we need to develop the fundamentals. Coins that have rising prices RIGHT NOW are out there if you want to play the short flip game. Look at junk like Pinkcoins, which I believe is being loaded up by 'insiders' for a coming pump. That goes on all day long. We don't need shady flippers and scammers in a serious community. At least we need not cater to them.
What Monero DOES need:1.
A GUI wallet in time with the right features. Hopefully you read to here before mashing quote.
The GUI(s) need to be solid and perhaps even have useful 2.0 style features. I trust the devs have good vision here. Just privacy features perfectly implemented in an scalable, portable app with mobile versions might be enough. Built in distributed market? Integrated decentralized exchange? The ability to issue securities or stocks? Messaging? I dunno. I hope someone does. We are well into Crypto 2.0 at this point in currency development. Is simple vanilla privacy enough? Whatever happens it has to be extensible.
2.
Cryptonote must make the exchanges. This is a hurdle. We need to see some slightly more mainstream exchanges implement cryptonote ability into their platforms. The masses will need to buy XMR from somewhere they trust.
3.
Luck and momentum. With hundreds of altcoins existing (and only a few legitimate ones really) the noisefloor is just really high. For Monero to be seen over the weeds it will need all the above PLUS the magical push of a DOGE style event. It doesnt have to be silly, but it does have to capture the attention of the potential users. People need to be able to tell each other the STORY of why we NEED Monero. And then the story must be told. Here, on reddit, and eventually in the media. Ripple did it. Darkcoin did it... and niether of those has the legitimacy of this project.
I remain bullish.