Cryptocurrency is reinventing the exchange of value, much like the internet did for the exchange of information, and the journey will be very much the same. The cryptocurrency movement was created out of the 2008 financial crisis with the belief that the financial system should be better.
In the years since, we’ve seen tremendous innovation and adoption within the global industry. Just look at the growth of stablecoins: cash became the first real-world asset to be tokenised. The year 2022, in particular, was a significant year for the crypto industry. We’ve found that use cases vary all over the world and range from gaming, to art, to music, to raising money for war efforts, as we’ve seen with the global support for the Ukrainian people last year, and relief efforts for victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria earlier this year. With the bear market, we also learned that Bitcoin, the most established and largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is now more correlated to tech stocks than they were in the past. When the broader financial markets slump, crypto does too.
This correlation reflects crypto’s maturity as an asset class: there are a growing number of institutional players involved, new types of financial products are being offered, regulatory oversight is developing, and the market is more efficiently pricing in new information. But there’s one important difference between crypto and traditional finance: transparency. Let’s explore how this has driven a huge demand for new models of ownership in the economy.
