Is your social media feed once again filled with crypto bros taking victory laps, attesting to Bitcoin’s inevitability? If you’re wondering, “How did we get here?” or why the nightly news declared Bitcoin dead to you, you’re not alone. Driven by viral social media campaigns like Elizabeth Warren’s “anti-crypto army,” crypto has become a word as dirty as investment banking was in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. It may have seemed prescient when FTX blew up in 2022, but the kindest thing one can call these critics today is lazy.
Several areas of the crypto sector are solving real problems at scale, from facilitating digital transactions to supporting a native financial system for the Internet. Take stablecoins, which peg digital assets to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. They are reaching new adoption highs, particularly in emerging markets where people face unstable local currencies. Then there’s decentralized finance (DeFi), which allows users to lend, borrow, and trade assets directly, bypassing traditional financial intermediaries. In countries with limited banking access, DeFi represents a significant financial inclusion opportunity. But in a world radically rethinking trade and dollarization, these primitives also provide a neutral ground for conducting transactions while promoting dollar usage and proliferation.
The Crypto Conundrum: Utility vs. Hype
However, not all crypto projects have clear value. Memecoins—digital tokens whose value is determined by internet attention rather than concrete use—are divisive even within crypto circles. Dogecoin, an Elon Musk favorite, has a market cap exceeding 94% of S&P 500 companies despite lacking a product or business model. Recently, Andreessen Horowitz’s Chris Dixon even criticized memecoins for compromising understanding of the sector’s utility. If one seeks a reason to argue crypto is a scam, one could find it in the memecoin world’s pockets.
But since Sam Bankman-Fried’s ignominious fall in 2022, another new primitive is using crypto rails to rebuild the tangible world: decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). These networks allow individuals to contribute resources like data or connectivity in exchange for rewards. By crowdsourcing, DePIN projects can compete with entrenched incumbents, offering cheaper, more accessible services.
If you only go by the Atlantic and Warren’s Twitter feed, you’d continue to think the industry is fraudulent.
Mahesh Ramakrishnan
The Atlantic has already called the term DePIN (coined by a Messari analyst) “boring.” But these networks are already changing market structure in traditional industries. Today, over 1,400 DePIN projects are under construction, having raised over $1 billion in venture funding. But if you only go by the Atlantic and Warren’s Twitter feed, you’d continue to think the industry is fraudulent.
Helium: A Case Study in Misrepresentation
Helium is a striking example. It’s a network that crowdsources mini-towers and wireless access points to create a decentralized mobile coverage network. With over 120,000 active mobile plans, Helium offers affordable connectivity by pushing operating costs to the network’s edges. But one could also find articles calling Helium a scam and declaring it a failure after its token price dropped 90% in 2022.
This misses how Helium’s business shifted from an IoT network to a mobile service provider. The misunderstanding reflects how token price volatility often overshadows actual business developments. Crypto networks like Helium are often “antifragile,” adapting to volatility even as extreme price swings fuel misleading narratives.
This may explain Trump’s affinity for crypto: he and the crypto industry are often misrepresented or taken out of context. As with MAGA, certain crypto actors are confused with the entire industry, and those seeking a scapegoat easily find one. It also explains why crypto natives feel so misunderstood.
As real use cases in stablecoins, DeFi, and DePIN continue to abound, it’s clear crypto’s best is also yet to come.
Mahesh Ramakrishnan
Yes, there’s a cohort of crypto holders who champion anarchy, and others still who’ve abused this unregulated market for personal gain. As failures from the last cycle’s end have driven mainstream media to pessimism, it’s understandable many think crypto’s worst is yet to come. But as real use cases in stablecoins, DeFi, and DePIN continue to abound, it’s clear crypto’s best is also yet to come.
