I think it's probably better for cryptocurrencies to remain niche.
The biggest crisis in the cryptocurrency industry to date has undoubtedly been the rapid collapse of FTX. At the time, the exchange that turned out to be Sam Bankman Fried’s personal treasury was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Its collapse sent shockwaves throughout the industry, not only causing a sharp drop in the price of Bitcoin but also bringing down a string of companies.
In late 2022, the blatant fraud uncovered at what was once the most popular and trusted cryptocurrency company among consumers seemed to confirm that it was all just a front to hide the fraud. Today, the situation has improved, but people still worry that some companies in the industry will repeat the mistakes of the past. For veteran cryptocurrency investors and observers, this situation has always been par for the course: Since the 2014 Bitcoin market crash and the failure and subsequent rebound of Mt. part of "life".
But isn’t it strange that a mature industry sees this boom-and-bust cycle as the norm? In my opinion, the mass adoption of any blockchain or B2C application depends on the price of its token, or that the entire industry is not always at risk of imminent collapse.
This is where the problem lies. To a large extent, the biggest problem with cryptocurrency development is its growth. This alternation of ecstasy when markets are excited and despair when markets are shrinking every four years or so is the result of cryptocurrencies’ pursuit of mass adoption.
Reckless popularity
This process is clear, a textbook example of what economist Robert Shiller calls "irrational exuberance." The promise of reinventing everything from currency to the web itself sparked interest, people bought into the dream of decentralization (or for many, the promise of making money quickly), popularity drove prices up, and price increases in turn drove Push more people to invest until something breaks.
Blockchain technology was originally designed to mitigate or replace some of the problems that would often lead to failure in making cryptocurrencies easier to accept and use. Many people believe that the general public may not keep cryptocurrencies on their own. However, without self-custody, the core purpose of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is lost. Measures that attempt to make cryptocurrencies more accessible or acceptable are often a recipe for failure because they defeat the purpose of blockchain’s decentralization and self-custody.
Alex Thorn, director of research at Galaxy Digital investment banking firm, said, “The risk with adoption is that new entrants don’t understand Bitcoin’s core principles: decentralization, self-custody, hard currency, etc. If new entrants don’t learn, understand and accept these Core beliefs, these characteristics may cease to exist over time".
There must be a state of checks and balances between decentralization and mass adoption. Popularity means obeying the law (which is often contrary to the values of cryptocurrencies) and creating simple barriers to use. If a cryptocurrency is too widespread, you risk destroying it. Really useful feature. Nathan Schnieder, a professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of "Governable Spaces," said that "integration into the mainstream financial system will ultimately cause the important characteristics of this technology to be lost."
這一觀點得到了都柏林大學學院講師 Paul Dylan-Ennis 的呼應，他表示「加密貨幣是一個無法接受自己是次文化的次文化。我們的大多數問題都源於『迎接下一個十億使用者』將如何導致核心特性的衰退。」
“Killer apps” have always existed
Developers, founders, and investors have spent 15 years and billions of dollars searching for blockchain’s “killer app,” but ironically, it already exists.
Satoshi Nakamoto, and those who truly follow him, have built tools that can be used at will and cannot be easily taken away.
This is what cryptocurrency is all about.
This is why almost no one uses Bitcoin to buy coffee, but many people use $XMR to buy various items on the dark web. If you look at how cryptocurrency is really connected to the real economy, you'll see that it's basically used in niche industries. Such as the black market or gray industry, stablecoin remittance channels and circulation among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Note that these are huge markets. But today, just as cryptocurrencies appear to be on the verge of a breakout, these uses pale in comparison to the speculative uses of cryptocurrencies, where capital moves in and out, jumping from one coin to another or The act of jumping from one protocol to another, leading to rising prices, essentially creates a circular economy.
no problem. To some extent, gambling is also an application. But if people want cryptocurrencies to be used productively, developers, founders, and investors should build products for those who truly need censorship-resistant currencies and tools. This is almost certainly a limited audience.
This is just my opinion, many people disagree.
other views
Molly White, author of Web3IsGoingGreat and Citation Needed, believes that “cryptocurrencies have become mainstream. Although some projects are still niche, with the Brian Armstrong and Sam Bankman Fried incidents, and the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs by BlackRock and Fidelity, I think The ship may have already sailed".
Privacy advocate, educator and Monero user SethforPrivacy has a different view. He said: "Unfortunately, most people have not realized the necessity of Bitcoin and are not willing to take that much personal responsibility, so we must focus on improving Bitcoin and helping those who realize its necessity today people."
Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer of the Human Rights Foundation, said, "It is decentralization that allows cryptocurrencies to truly go global. The only reason why Bitcoin can rise is that it has the most cyberpunk characteristics. It does not belong to anyone, it is owned by users rather than countries. or company operations.”
Ethereum advocate Emmanuel Awosika said, “We think everyone wants products with privacy, anti-censorship, and protection against state-state attacks.”
Awosika added that "we should explore how to get cryptocurrencies into the hands of as many people as possible." Similarly, Roko Mijic, famous for "Roko's Basilisk," believes that it is actually "scale" that gives decentralized tools Power, which is verified by the fact that Bitcoin is difficult to attack because miners are distributed around the world. "You can't resist censorship on a small encrypted network because the government will just destroy the entire network."
Justin Ehrenhofer, founder of Moonstone Research, agreed in Chicago, noting that currencies are only useful if they are widely accepted, so "you should focus on building systems that attract outside users." However, he added, “With mass adoption, the ethos of cryptocurrencies has somewhat degraded as ordinary users store their wealth in custodial exchanges.”
I guess the real question is, “Who is more important, the core values of cryptocurrencies or the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies?”
[Disclaimer] There are risks in the market, so investment needs to be cautious. This article does not constitute investment advice, and users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions contained in this article are appropriate for their particular circumstances. Invest accordingly and do so at your own risk.
This article is reproduced with permission from: "PANews"
Original article by Daniel Kuhn, Consensus Magazine
