Vitalik Buterin believes that the role of crypto has changed significantly since 2008. Today Bitcoin is not just “protest” money as it is said by CZ.
Bitcoin was founded during the 2008 financial crisis. The community that has been built around the digital currency has been mainly defined as a revolutionary deviation from the traditional concept of money. In a series of tweets on June 2, the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin stated that it is no longer enough for digital currencies to be seen as a money revolution. Buterin maintained that this mindset is one that the crypto community needs to move away from.
On 2008 vs 2020, and what it means for crypto(currency).
I've said this already at some of the recent newfangled e-conferences, but want to reshare here too.
Thread:
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) June 2, 2020
In one of the series of tweets, Buterin said that it is of essence that the community embraced new ideas that would enhance the relevance of crypto in terms of use cases. He added that the realities of the times should determine the approach adopted by the industry if it would remain relevant in the scheme of things.
Buterin Compared Crypto in 2008 and 2020
Buterin wrote that the fundamental difference between the crisis that necessitated Bitcoin invention in 2008 and the present scenario is that the invention was as a result of a need created by the financial crisis. He wrote that 2020 is a year of crisis due to a virus pandemic.
Buterin said that Bitcoin was invented due to mistakes by the government which under-regulated or overregulated the financial sector. He said it could have been the effect of bailing out too many banks or having too many dollars in circulation.
The thoughts of Buterin quite differ from what Changpeng Zhao, the founder and CEO of Binance, thinks.
I will come out and say this directly: this mentality below is *exactly* what we should be expanding beyond right now. REFORMING MONEY IS NOT SUFFICIENT.https://t.co/2MakOIFSdB
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) June 2, 2020
Industry Trend Relates to Global Economy
Using an S&P 500 Index chart, Buterin stated that cryptocurrencies have come a long way bearing a high correlation to wider economic trends. He insinuated that these assets could act as hedges and protection from interferences such as unforeseen changes such as political and financial policies.
He maintained that in as much that there has been unconscionable interest in the financial function of cryptocurrencies, there is a need to readjustment considering that this function is hardly in demand as it was a decade ago.
Using Ethereum as an example, Buterin wrote:
“Luckily, there are many categories of Ethereum applications that that go beyond finance. Decentralized censorship-resistant publishing and communication, decentralized communites / governance, DAOs, DAOs for content curation, etc. All important work”
He cited another example with stablecoins, stating that people are not necessarily interested in abandoning the USD but exploit the liberty cryptocurrencies provide through a variety of options on ways to use their money.
The tweets which attracted many comments show the Ethereum co-founder in his element. As usual, he is advocating that the industry shifts its focus from economic aspects of the blockchain to social. This would lead to more use cases for the technology.
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