Spreading Crypto: The Cost of Adoption (If Our Plan Works)

Is the community willing to make any sacrifices at the altars of crypto adoption? What compromises are required?

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Hightop

7 min readJun 30, 2020

This is the final post of our Spreading Crypto mini-series, where we look at what it’ll take for this tech to reach broader adoption.

We’ve covered a lot in this series. We’ve looked at past protocols and how they only become adopted when killer applications arrive. Crypto and decentralized protocols will be no different. [Read More]

We’ve looked at the current state of application development to understand if we’re getting closer to the killer app. We think most of the industry is barking up the wrong tree. [Read More]

We’ve looked at the different strategies that companies use as they launch and promote apps to mainstream audiences. Most are taking the approach of trying to educate & onboard people into crypto. Our approach is the opposite. [Read More]

We’ve also discussed how having a hosted bank run and managed by professionals can help in the quest for broader adoption. For normies, this is simply the smartest choice — an easier, more secure, and financially more rewarding option than if they were to become their own DIY bank. [Read More]

Today we’re gonna wrap up this “Spreading Crypto” series. If our analysis is correct of how this tech reaches the masses, what are the implications? What’s the cost? Will any compromises be required? Let’s dive in.

Our Plan for Global Crypto Adoption

By now, it should be abundantly clear how we at Genesis Block believe crypto & blockchain ultimately reach mainstream adoption. It should be clear what our gameplan is. Here are some of the key points:

The masses will never interact directly with these decentralized protocols (crypto/blockchain). It demands far too much education, onboarding, and friction. Not to mention the potential costs if a user makes a mistake. The risk is simply not worth the reward. No past protocols have reached adoption in this way.
Crypto needs a killer app that can take this tech to the masses in a way that’s simple & convenient. The value is unlocked while the protocol complexity is abstracted away. No blockchain knowledge should be required.
The application needs to solve user problems and meet the needs of the real-world. It should be easy to understand and fit within existing workflows & behaviors. The focus should be on the user, not the tech!
The killer application must be fast, responsive, smooth, performant, and delivered on form factors and experiences that they expect & understand. To deliver on that today, the application needs to be centralized.
The most promising crypto use-cases map very closely to the types of services that banks already offer. A new, digital bank like Genesis Block is the perfect “killer app” that can take crypto to the masses.

A lot of that sounds obvious. Yet, many of these statements are at odds with where much of the crypto industry is spending their time today. Actions speak louder than words. 🤷

The C̶o̶s̶t̶s̶ Compromises of Adoption

If our plans for spreading crypto turn out to be correct, then what are the implications? What’s the upshot, especially for those already in crypto?

There are real costs. And they may not feel great.

These costs are probably what’s holding the crypto community back from fully embracing some of these strategies. The costs are too high to do more than just pay lip service.

But a Cost is where value only goes one direction. In the case of crypto growth & adoption, this is something we all want. This is something we’re all striving for. So really, these aren’t costs. We should think of it as a Compromise.

Let’s look at a few.

Public Praise & Recognition

One casualty of this path may be our community’s sense of importance, pride, ego.

If I’m correct in the analysis of how this tech gets adopted, then the world may never become familiar with crypto. They’ll have no idea that some of the most powerful applications — the apps making their lives better, more productive, more rewarding — are all using decentralized protocols under the hood.

Crypto may forever operate in the background, hidden from the spotlight. The masses may never hear about blockchain.

The creators of protocols like HTTP & TCP/IP are just footnotes in the history books of technology. They are unsung heroes. Few know their name. Yet billions of people are using their tech every single day. Will the innovators behind decentralized protocols meet the same fate?

As builders, makers, and early adopters of crypto, how will that make us feel? WE are who nurtured this technology. WE are who cultivated this industry. WE are who designed, built, and launched these innovative protocols. How will we feel if that work is never recognized or celebrated by the billions of people around the globe?

Will we be okay with that? Or will our pride & ego be hurt?

Rigid Idealism

Another thing we may have to sacrifice at the alters of adoption is our community’s rigid idealism.

I laid out the case for why any “killer app” that’s capable of reaching the masses needs to be centralized. Decentralized applications simply cannot produce the type of product experience that mainstream consumers expect

If that turns out to be true, then we may have to shed some of the dogma around censorship-resistance & absolute decentralization.

If our plan at Genesis Block works, and the winning approach to adoption is to take crypto the real-world (instead of making the world come into our crypto bubble), then we may have to adjust our rose-colored glasses.

As a guest in someone’s home, we may have to take off our shoes before we enter. We may need to have a small bite of those mashed potatoes that the host just dumped on our plate (even though we’re not eating carbs). We may need to be a good sport, for the greater good, for the growth of that relationship.

We may have to retire memes like “not your keys, not your coins.” We may have to relax a little on the whole Libertarian dissident tech cypherpunk anarchist shtick.

That sacrifice will be painful for many. Is this something our community is willing to do if it meant broader crypto adoption?

Crypto Community

I know I’m not the only one who wants to see this incredible technology become widely adopted. I know I’m not the only one who believes that this tech can unlock greater economic freedom, financial inclusion, access, and opportunity for people all over the world. I know I’m not the only one who believes that this tech can leave an enormous, lasting, positive impact on the societies all around us.

That’s why I have no doubt that our community is willing to make some of those compromises.

They will rise to the occasion. The crypto community knows the power & magic of this technology. They know the difference it can make in the hands of more people. They won’t let pride or ego get in the way. They won’t let dogmatic thinking come at the expense of pragmatic solutions that can benefit people.

And because of that attitude, I’m confident we’ll get there. Soon billions of people will be leveraging this technology one way or another. It’s coming.

Game Time

As for us at Genesis Block, we’re leaving basecamp. The snacks are ready. The bags are packed. The prayers have been offered. The weather window is clear.

Off we go. We’re headed up the mountain.

Regardless of whether you agree with the route we’re taking — our strategies of how to take crypto to the masses — we still hope that you’ll be cheering us on. We hope that you’ll wish us “Safe Travels!” as we embark. We invite you to follow along — even if with only binoculars from the comfort of basecamp.

At the end of the day, if you’re in the crypto community, we’re all on the same team. We’re all from the same, weird, dysfunctional crypto family.

We know that we don’t know everything at Genesis Block. We might trip, take the wrong turn, or end up taking a tougher route. But our hope is that you’ll still root for us because our intentions are the same as yours: give this tech the role it deserves.

We all love crypto. We all want more people to experience the value it unlocks. We all want that crypto flag to be waving loudly and proudly at the top of that summit — regardless of what team hammers the final stake. We’re all fighting for the same cause: Spreading Crypto.

And that’s something that should be celebrated.

“The credit belongs to the (wo)man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who at the worst, if (s)he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…”
~ Theodore Roosevelt