It’s been a miserable year for crypto, hit by (or bringing upon itself), catastrophe after catastrophe, with the ultimate meltdown coming in the form of FTX’s collapse, which includes staggering levels of dishonesty, mismanagement, and what many observers would contend is blatant criminality.
On top of all this, there is still speculation that the crypto world has more shocks to come, and that a final (or should that be finally final) capitulation is yet to play out. That one last blow may or may not materialize, but either way, a period of reflection is in order.
Notably, there have been few voices declaring that crypto is dead and gone forever, unlike in previous bear markets. There seems to be a recognition now that the crypto sector is here to stay, although disagreements are common about precisely why it should stick around, and what we should do with it.
In order to pick itself up from the rubble and start bringing in interest again, it’s critical for crypto to get a better grasp on what it can do that has straightforward appeal to newcomers.
Long-Term Communities
For many new entrants into crypto, the initial appeal is the spectacular increases in price that sometimes occur. This might sound unsustainable, or put one in mind of a get-rich-quick scheme. After all, if the only thing you can do with a new asset is hope to sell it to someone else later, then what you’re buying sounds unlikely to change the world.
However, this is a misinterpretation of why rising prices are important, and it’s too simplistic to throw everything that operates in this way into the Ponzi bin.
In the case of Bitcoin, and other projects that are cleanly constructed or have clear purposes in mind, when buyers who initially came for the rising prices are on board, some proportion of them will go on to learn more about the technology itself, and its true potential, leading them to stay long-term.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano, in particular, have dedicated communities that hunker down through tough times, and spend a lot of time discussing and working on real applications and technical improvements, rather than simply speculating on prices.
Stablecoins as an Alternative Currency
There are places in the world where trust in national currencies has evaporated, as inflation…
