The Ongoing Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Sector is a Unique Chance for Change

In May, the market value and reputation of bitcoin took a hit. Its resurgence provides an opportunity to regain both.

It’s not a good day for cryptocurrency. Perhaps you’ve seen an article (or 20) about it. Perhaps you’ve been on Twitter, where our critics are cackling gleefully over each headline, each one more harbinger-of-doom-like than the last. To be honest, things aren’t looking good right now.

In most news coverage, crashed, collapsed, erased, plummeted, destroyed, and imploded are the operative words. They’re not being used incorrectly or in an exaggerated manner. It’s awful out there right now for anyone who is desperately trying to buy a dunker or diamond-handed believer who thrives on detractors and never gives up.

I’m not interested in making the argument for buying the dip or never dipping out and storing gold bars in an underground shelter. But I do believe that this wild, furious, blood-lusting bear market we’re careening through offers us a chance to make some much-needed corrections.

I’ve previously argued that the crypto industry as a whole has gone off track, sacrificing the revolutionary potential of decentralized finance for an inescapable herd of ugly monkeys. I’m not the only one who thinks this way; much less is he the most prominent. In his Time magazine article in March 2022, Vitalik Buterin made similar remarks.

The Twitter sample audience isn’t great, but given the sorry state of crypto’s public reputation, it isn’t surprising or even unforeseen that this fall is met with derision and schadenfreude by people who aren’t in the industry.

From rampant scams to ugly nonfungible tokens (NFT) to carbon-emitting mining, we’ve given the rest of the world plenty of reasons to be wary of cryptocurrencies. Many individuals still believe that we are a group of unsightly bros fighting it out on an unregulated stock market imitation with no real comeuppance.

According to certain authors and publications, a cryptocurrency decline would prompt a group of mostly male, recently divorced, and disillusioned individuals to embrace fascism and move away from democratic ideals.

If you do, I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. If not, no worries; I’ll cut it down for you. Sadly, even if one believes we shouldn’t be worried by these developments because Bitcoin is just a store of value, as my friend’s father pointed out above in his editorial on bitcoin’s recent price surge:

Given that the lack of regulation is at the heart of crypto, and uncontrolled places will always produce terrible actors, perhaps I’m shouting into the middle of nowhere. But we’ve got to work as a community.

Let’s do something different with cryptocurrency. Let us use crypto to improve people’s lives and make their experiences more pleasurable and easier. It’s not about civic responsibility or altruism; it’s all about doing the right thing for ourselves.

When did we become so lackadaisical? When did we grow to be so self-centered, motivated only by money, and focused solely on solving internal difficulties? When did we get so incredibly tedious? In crypto’s early days, the atmosphere was almost utopian. The mood has grown considerably more dour since then. Is it because of a lack of conviction on our part?

The new paradigm of post-crash crypto should be better, smarter, and more creative. We should be focusing our efforts on initiatives and coins that promote a regenerative economy, support vital natural ecosystems, make our cities more intelligent and resilient, streamline supply chains, and fit into ordinary people’s portfolios. We should aspire to greater things.

I’m not suggesting we should stop trying to achieve rags to riches without the work. We should figure out how to separate cryptocurrencies more meaningfully from the stock market, which is a large part of how we got into this mess in the first place. Aren’t we supposed to get rid of the middlemen that have taken so much value from the little guy? We’re not here to establish a new Wall Street with the express purpose of enriching wealthy insiders.

It’s not anyone’s fault that the market crashed. But our reputation and the individuals who are gleefully watching the rise of decentralized finance? We did it to ourselves. When we emerge from this, let us move forward with true purpose. It’s the only way to achieve massive adoption. And it’ll be the only way we survive.

This article is not intended to provide investment or trading advice. Every investment and trading transaction has inherent risk, and readers should perform their own research when making a decision.

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