Practice what you preach
Why sticking to your dreams is not stupid
At the end of the decade social media space is filled with the lists of people and companies’ achievements and failures. In 10 years the industry went from being non-existent to a serious force in the world. From being a utopia and a joke to something real.
Bitcoin has been declared dead by the press more times than any other invention, but as we enter 2020 it is still here, regardless of its price, the large institutions and regulations. Because it is just an idea wrapped in a technology.
In his original bitcoin whitepaper Satoshi has proposed a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System:
“a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution”.
7 years ago Cryptopay started as a Bitcoin wallet that would also serve as a gateway between two worlds. We were not the only ones, but we were among the first pioneers. Back in the days everything about cryptocurrency sounded too crazy or too optimistic.
And we all learned that sometimes crazy and optimistic is not necessarily impossible.
However, as any great opportunity, cryptocurrencies attracted tricky scammers, naive dreamers and big institutional investors. A mixture of ingredients that brought inevitable changes as each one had their own goals.
Regulators have been working hard to finally contain cryptocurrencies. 5th anti-money laundering directive and a proposed FATFs travel rules will definitely be game-changers in the coming year. It will put pressure on established players making it even harder to keep the promise of the truly decentralised finance.
Crypto industry market leaders came all the way from serving misfits to becoming just another casino called BTC/USD. Many could not withstand the pressure and now are only a shadow of the free spirit they used to be. Maturing is good, but giving up on values as grown-ups give up on their childhood dreams is sad. Crypto industry used to be a community that inspired. Should we just assume that it is dead? Should we give up on solving the puzzle or should we at least try to find the missing pieces?
Good news is that while those crypto industry market leaders fail to protect the original values due to their inability to have controversial disputes with regulators, the idea of decentralisation hasn’t vanished — it shifted. From the mainstream back to where it came from — to innovators, this time — De-Fi. A year ago, we couldn’t have imagined that stablecoins could be decentralised. Or lending can be done without giving up the custody of your assets. DAOs are bringing voting and decision making on-chain, thus giving social science the right tools and making the possibility to run organisations of any scale in a decentralised way.
It looks like the first-wave crypto startups got distracted by 2017 hype and celebrated the victory of the new finance too early. You can’t build a new world with just one technology or with technology only. We need collaboration.
The innovation happens not during panels with local regulator but in honest and sometimes controversial disputes between like-minded people.
And this is what stands behind our decisions, our will to continue our everyday work at Cryptopay, despite the crazy amount of negotiations, approvals, applications, compliance syncs and paperwork that drains the life from everything and everyone around. That’s why besides the work on GBP accounts and cards our focus in 2019 was on setting up a process and goals that doesn’t force us to sacrifice what matters most — our users’ ideals. Cryptopay started as a collaboration between our users that inspired us and the technology that made it possible. And that is something important that we would like to bring with us to the next decade.
Hundreds of improvements are in the pipeline and your voice is what matters.
Every great achievement that surrounds us was once just a wish. “I wish that was possible” becomes something that is a part of everyday life. And as the New Year is the time to make wishes, make as many as you want, don’t be shy, dream big, because crazy and optimistic is not necessarily impossible.
Happy New Year
George @ Cryptopay
