A new financial system; a more democratized, even more inclusive, financial sector; the future of the internet — the crypto ecosystem has been described as all of these things. However, as is evidenced by digital assets’ inherent correlation with the Nasdaq 100, most people fail to conceptualize blockchain as anything other than an extension of the traditional tech economy. While blockchain’s proponents laud its virtues and potential, they have been unable to make a comprehensive case for blockchain to everyday people.
Many crypto natives anticipate “the decoupling,” in which digital assets become financially independent from traditional tech equities. But without a clear plan of action for how to differentiate decentralized crypto technology, industry independence will be unrealized. Those of us who believe in the long-term promise of blockchain technology need to completely rethink how to pitch blockchain to broader society.
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What is “the decoupling”?
The Bitcoin (BTC) whitepaper — published 14 years ago — demonstrated, at its core, the ambition to build a world of permissionless, decentralized payments. To date, this goal has been partially advanced with developments like El Salvador’s national Bitcoin adoption.
However, the cryptocurrency ecosystem hasn’t supplanted traditional finance. In fact, it has ingrained itself into it. Turn on CNBC and you will hear about the latest legacy institution entering the crypto space, and you will see minute-by-minute graphs of crypto price action alongside models of traditional equity markets. You likely won’t hear any blockchain commentator or industry leader speaking about improving financial transactions, eliminating third-party banking institutions, or any other defining element of the original crypto ethos.
The result of this broad change in purpose and perception is that crypto — despite being established to lessen dependence on traditional finance — grows and declines with the movements and behaviors of the traditional economy. Evidently, the Fed’s meeting memos and Amazon’s quarterly earnings calls have, at present, a far greater sway on the crypto ecosystem than anything laid out in Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper.
If cryptocurrency cannot be financially independent from the legacy financial and technical industry it seeks to replace, what is the purpose of cryptocurrency? Decoupling is not an industry luxury — it is a necessary step for the industry’s survival.
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How does crypto decouple?
The broader community must acknowledge two things. First, you cannot wish your way into a new financial reality; the decoupling won’t happen just because we want it to. Second, it’s said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. The narratives that have built crypto to its current status reached the limits of their influence; continued adherence to the same strategy will just perpetuate stagnation.
To fully decouple, I propose three broad steps:
- We, in the crypto-community, make blockchain technology and narratives more approachable;
- We focus on use cases with tangible real-world effects; and
- We emphasize the clear juxtaposition between crypto and its alternatives.
Approachable blockchain technology and narratives
Jargon is the antithesis of accessibility. Technically complex language may be a mainstay in computer science circles but, to the majority of the population, terms like zero-knowledge proofs, and layer 2 interoperability protocol, might as well be Latin. Ironically, for blockchain to decouple from tech, the experience of using it needs to be more like that of Meta.
Say what you will about Facebook and its sister products, but you cannot deny that they have become both indispensable to teenagers and addictive for grandparents — for crypto to sustain long-term…
Read More: cointelegraph.com