I hear the same crypto talking points over and over.
From so many people who are genuinely curious but are mostly exposed to one-sided headlines lacking nuance, without time to dig deeper.
My first step in these conversations, and my goal today, is to provide accessible context for what you might have heard about crypto.
I hope that after reading you are more up to date on the bigger picture, not just the headlines.
I’ll start with 2 things you might have heard recently:
What you might have heard:
"Crypto is used to fund illegal / illicit activity"
The Bigger Picture:
Crypto allows anyone the freedom to transact with anyone else. Bad actors will abuse this freedom to do bad things. There is a very important discussion to be had about whether that means we should strip everyone of that freedom.
The even bigger picture:
The following is a great place to start this discussion. Here's the pseudonymous "Punk 6529" thoughtfully explaining why “Freedom to Transact” is critical to our social infrastructure. The voice changer admittedly takes a bit to get used to, abstracting voice will sound much better in the near future (14 min).
The Bigger Picture:
The blockchain is a public ledger of record that exists forever. Using crypto is one of the stupidest ways to commit crimes, as immutable evidence of wrongdoing exists forever.
Law enforcement agencies and fraud detection practices will improve & catch bad actors, it is simply a matter of when. Crypto, to the trained eye (or code), will likely be the easiest flow of funds to track. The permanence and transparency of blockchains will function as effective deterrents for financial wrongdoing & immorality.
How you are remembered, forever, as a human being is something many people already consider quite strongly, even before we record everyone's transactions publicly and permanently.
The even bigger picture:
You might have heard, either from the Wall Street Journal or from the letter written by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and signed by more than 100 members of congress, that Hamas received “over $130 million” of crypto funding.
What you might not have heard is that the only source cited by Sen. Warren issued a follow-up clarification, strongly disputing the WSJ’s figure and Sen. Warren’s claims.
You might not have heard that 4 days after the WSJ corrected their article, Sen. Warren doubled down on her claims -- aware that her source disputed her claims and that the WSJ issued a correction -- and stated “it’s not about one report”, even though her letter only cites one report.
Most people don't have the time to check, days later, for article corrections or retractions. The initial headline drives the narrative, and a loud false narrative is much stronger than a well-researched true one.
For detailed aggregation of on-chain analysis regarding Hamas receiving crypto, please refer to this comprehensive write-up by Nic Carter.
What you might have heard:
"Crypto is full of speculators & gamblers"
The Bigger Picture:
Crypto is not widely accepted at gas stations or supermarkets yet. Until NFTs and smart contracts (I know you might have heard about those too 😉), the only thing you could do with crypto was keep it as a store of value, or trade it against other market participants.
So of course crypto is filled with speculators, because until recently, all you could do is either speculate against your local currency or speculate against other traders.
As non-speculative applications continue to become more widely adopted, the % of speculators in crypto will approach the % of the general population that are day-trading stocks or sports betting.
The even bigger picture:
Many non-speculative applications already exist.
Here are a few:
ENS (Ethereum Name Service)
A single username for the internet that you can use across all platforms. Can function as your email, phone #, social media accounts, wallet, keys.
Your ENS will also soon function as a secure log-in for every website you visit. This means your data is much safer against breaches AND you’ll never need a password again, saving you X emails informing you that your privacy has been violated and Y hours of having to reset your password, keeping track of the change, inevitably forgetting which new password you changed to, needing to reset again, rinse repeat.
Watch Balaji Srinivasan discuss the importance of ENS in the internet age (7 min).
Getting a loan: Smart contracts enable globally favorable interest rates. Why? Digital collateral is immediately escrowed, and either the debt is paid and the collateral is immediately returned or the debt is unpaid and the collateral is immediately transferred to the lender. No debt collectors, no concern from the lender about not being repaid, no middlemen, no hassle.
AI creates, crypto authenticates: AI can now create photo- and video-realistic deep fakes. When AI can create anything, having an immutable record of human interaction and social infrastructure to authenticate truth will be very valuable for maintaining order and fighting misinformation.
I realize all of this might read a bit defensively, as in:
So you probably heard crypto was bad. Here's why it's not so bad.
Instead of:
Crypto will be extremely useful for you, and be an incredible force for good for the world.
I'm excited to share what I view as huge positives with you in future posts.
How nonprofits are able to leverage this technology to unlock massive new fundraising opportunities while distributing their mission & message more effectively.
How we'll be able to save the essence of our memories, experiences, and identity in deeply meaningful, secure ways.
I went through photo albums with Grandma of her world travels when I last visited. Amidst her fading memory, I think of how much she would value the ability to relive those experiences more vividly.
But historically, when I dive head first into the positive, I'm often met with:
Yeah sure that sounds great, but what about [insert negative crypto headline/narrative]
The positive is coming! But for today, I hope you found this helpful and received some clarity on What You Might Have Heard about crypto.
If you did, it would mean a lot if you subscribed! You'll get a high-quality, accessible write up directly to your email whenever a new post goes live.
I’d also love to hear if you have any followup questions, and learn what else you might have heard about crypto. Shoot me a message and I’d be happy to set up a time to talk directly or write about it in the future.
Thanks for reading!
-- Ben