Why didn’t crypto go on ETHDenver?

Last week’s ETHDenver conference highlighted a disturbing trend in the crypto industry. While not unique to blockchain, the trend of not using the products our industry is creating is something that the crypto community has to contend with. In more mature industries, this “dogfooding” is enforced. Microsoft employees must use Outlook, Word, and so on. But in early-stage industries like blockchain, this dynamic is still being worked out.

Why isn’t our Web3 community speaking up when it comes to using our own technology? We say we’re building better versions of existing internet experiences with the value propositions of privacy, transparency and more compelling connected experiences for users – and we are. Yet I keep seeing projects across the ecosystem fall back on the very technology we aim to (and already have) replaced.

This problem has followed us all the way through this journey. We appreciate decentralization, but most financial crypto transactions happen on centralized exchanges. We appreciate transparency, but leave assets to opaque companies like FTX. We appreciate innovation, but most of the side events around the upcoming ETHDenver conference run their ticket sales through legacy systems like Eventbrite – when better Web3 ticketing options are available.

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There are many reasons for this dynamic, and many of them are valid and a natural part of the build and adoption process. However, I think that as a community we need to remind ourselves that we need to be the first to use the exciting new technology we are building. If not us, then who? It’s up to us to show the world that these things work and are the better choice compared to the Web2 alternatives. This trend is not unique to blockchain and even seems to be a common growing pain for almost every industry at some point in its maturation.

Crypto events and conferences are the perfect places to use the NFT (nonfungible token) ticket use case, but Web2 platforms, such as Eventbrite, remain the staple for most of our ticketing needs. The explosion of Eventbrite links for the many (awesome) side events at ETHDenver was truly astonishing, but also disappointing. Our community has built better versions of this technology that has the values ​​we all care so much about embedded in its DNA, so why aren’t we, the builders of this, using that?

Another obvious place for us to eat the dog food is to replace the endless stream of business cards exchanged at booths and around events. Instead of exchanging pieces of paper that will inevitably be lost, people can simply scan QR codes, get NFTs imprinted that can remind each other when and where this interaction happened while creating an additional, ongoing point of contact for future interactions. Using NFT “link trees” it is also possible to share social media handles and tons of other information. So, for example, when a potential customer interacts with a business by scanning their QR code, that interaction can be recorded as an NFT and then used for promotions, coupons, emails, Telegram handles and more. It is certainly a more valuable experience than a paper business card.

As early adopters in the industry, it is our responsibility to walk along the roads we have built and pave the way for others to join. It is our duty to show that these things not only work, but work better than the existing paradigm. In order for us to do our best work, we must dog food what we build. By doing so, we find friction points and areas where we can iterate. We set the wheels in motion to find new and better ways to implement the technology or create new functions and applications. We are the ones responsible for the task of demonstrating a new way forward to the world, so walking is something we all need to be constantly reminded of.

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This is new, there is a learning curve, old habits die hard, etc. But at some point we as a society have to draw the line and make a change – as many industries have done before us. The advances this technology has made even in the last few months have been huge, so maybe people will wait until it’s fully baked and seamless. This makes sense, but let’s be clear about what those standards are and make a conscious effort as a community to choose when, where and how we want to start showing the world that we’ve built new ways of doing things that uphold our values.

It’s no secret that this technology exists, but our society seems stuck in its old habits of using the tools we as an industry work to improve. It seems like if there was ever an audience that would want to use this technology, it would be the attendees of one of the biggest crypto conferences in the world, right? This is a natural part of all new technology, and it won’t happen overnight, but it has to start somewhere. So let’s go for a walk by actually using the solutions we tell others to use. Anything less is hypocrisy.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.