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Vitalik says
"we’re early to crypto’s usefulness, not crypto itself"
During his presentation at Token 2049, Vitalik Buterin, shared his enthusiasm for the coming decade in the crypto sector, emphasizing the achievements thus far and the potential of what’s ahead.
Addressing the longstanding belief that crypto is in its infancy, Vitalik said it is akin to the internet’s gradual evolution
Yet, with over ten years of Bitcoin and Ethereum, crypto itself isn’t in the early stages anymore; however, it’s still early in terms of making it accessible to average users. Essentially, while the technology is prepared, more efforts are required to make it practical for everyday applications.
“People tend to say you know this is still early days right, we’re still building out the basic infrastructure, [but] today we are not early to crypto but we are early to crypto actually being usable”, Vitalik added
Vitalik reminisced about the early Bitcoin era in 2013 when the buzz was all about its revolutionary potential to transform payments
Back then, many businesses tried incorporating Bitcoin into their transactions, but the prohibitive transaction fees, reaching up to $50, and slow processing times soon proved to be major obstacles
He shared an experience in Argentina in 2021, where he discovered cryptocurrency had woven its way into daily life. Yet, instead of embracing decentralized platforms like Ethereum, most turned to centralized exchanges such as Binance for their efficiency and lower costs.
Vitalik envisions a future where we can build “digital castles” on Ethereum
Historically, exorbitant fees have posed a considerable problem. According to Vitalik, with the advent of “layer 2 solutions” layered over Ethereum, there’s been a dramatic drop in fees to almost negligible levels, allowing for lightning-fast transactions. This innovation effectively tackles one of the primary hurdles of using crypto in everyday scenarios
