Crypto Industry Update: Friend or Folly?
From Bitcoin Beach to CryptoCities, here is the latest news in crypto.
Photo Source: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images via Mashable
It has been a while since we wrote about crypto and the pros and cons of getting involved in it. Our June 17 article reviewed the two in-depth pieces we had published since we started in March.
The first piece was about the war between Web 3 or Web 3.0. Web 3 is the traditional venture capital approach while Web 3.0 focuses on disrupting the current financial system.
The second piece we wrote was on the three issues crypto must solve in order to be a viable alternative to existing financial systems. These issues include environmental costs, theft and questioning how crypto will benefit society besides just making money.
Well, like all parts of the financial markets in the past few months, crypto has seen a huge decline in value. Most crypto currencies have gone down faster than they went up with more than a 60 percent decline in value since the fall of 2020.
So, where are we now?
One of the major problems, environmental costs, might be solved as Ethereum announced a new way to make transactions that reduces environmental costs by using 99 percent less energy.
In regards to the theft problem, billions have been lost this year to fraud and computer hacks. And the year is not over yet…
It seems we are still at the beginning of trying to solve this theft problem, and it must be solved for crypto to have a real place in the financial system.
On a positive note, some possible good news this month for crypto is Mastercard's release of a product using artificial intelligence to help banks determine the risk of fraud in each transaction.
So we turn to the last issue: does crypto really add any value to society? To be honest, our team at Don’t Count Us Out Yet still doesn’t know, but we are watching some innovators attempt to implement it into society. Among them are:
Major cities in the world, and some beach towns, are home to enthusiasts who are really making themselves friendly to using crypto. Here is a great New York Times article on one beach town in Portugal where crypto enthusiasts are moving.
Here is a list of the top 15 most influential crypto cities in the world.
Not ready to move yet? How about planning a holiday trip to meet some crypto enthusiasts? Here are some suggestions.
Watch what is going on in crypto and hopefully we’ll see some real uses that are valuable to everyone. In the meantime, if you are comfortable where you are, but still want to learn more, you might want to play the CryptoCities game where you can help decide the future of how crypto cities are built.
So, what is crypto’s true value to society? In our mind, it probably isn’t answered yet, because we don’t know what will scale. However, if anyone wants to go to Malta or Buenos Aires over the holidays with us to meet some crypto enthusiasts, drop a comment below. Could be a lot of fun!
Best,
Craig for the Don’t Count Us Out Yet Staff