Generational change and crypto-natives
A generational shift has unstoppable momentum, but is not confrontational, because it simply represents a changed way of seeing the world. Such shifts are inevitable and occur as a consequence of something that cannot be stopped: people who have been shaped together in a certain way grow older and assume positions of responsibility.
And it may be that embracing crypto is just such a generational shift, as attitudes prevalent in older generations cease to be common in the generations that follow. These attitudes are, if we are discussing crypto, in relation specifically to technology, money, savings and investments, and online behavior.
Accessibility and fairness
It is sometimes said that crypto is difficult to understand and that getting on board is a process that still has too much friction, requiring wallets to be set up, fiat to be converted to crypto, and all ideally with at least a surface understanding of blockchain technology.
However, an alternative perspective on this is that compared to traditional investing, getting started with crypto requires less homework, and emphasizes being open to everyone. The friction in crypto is practical, and learning how wallets and exchanges work is a hands-on tutorial that isn’t particularly complicated.
The friction in traditional investing, on the other hand, can appear technical and academic, with complex instruments and sometimes an exclusionary character.
In some respects, crypto is a fairer option: since it is newer, no one has an insurmountable advantage, not enough time has passed for a hack order to be embedded, there is a desire to onboard new users, and moreover, crypto is in itself. as opposed to hierarchies and exclusion.
Gamification
The lines between gaming and finance are blurring, as crypto projects feature 8-bit aesthetics, cute NFTs, and interfaces that look and feel like retro games.
For a while, Axie Infinity was a success, ostensibly a game, but also providing full-time income for some of its users. The Axie model turned out to be unsustainable and prices have now collapsed, but despite this a seed was planted and the trend towards gamification gained momentum.
For a generation raised on home gaming, with consoles always present in the background, gamified financial products make intuitive sense.
A life online
As generations who grew up online come of age, change is driven by people for whom digital currencies and virtual assets are a natural fit.
On the one hand, this could mean that CBDCs become, from the perspective of organizations seeking implementation, an easier sell. But if there is both a rejection of centralization and an embrace of cashless transactions, then cryptocurrencies are leading the way.
Looking at the state of web technology, over the past ten or fifteen years we’ve seen a shift from the anything-goes, liberal ethos that defined the early web to a highly centralized model where a handful of tech behemoths exercise massively increased control .
With that in mind, a reverse swing of the pendulum could result from decentralization and away from top-down micromanagement. If such a cyclical trend change manifests, crypto will be in the right place at the right time.
Generation opportunity
Blockchain technology brings potentially lucrative opportunities to the table, as a new industry unfolds and expands in real time. To make entry easier, there is a growing pool of inexpensive educational and educational content available online, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to acquire useful skills.
Moreover, blockchain-oriented projects often operate from scratch and meritocratically, ensuring that if workers are skilled and can demonstrate skills, then factors such as financial or academic background are unimportant.
Blockchain developers are seizing these opportunities, but so are artists and designers who have found, through NFTs, technology-centric new routes to advance their careers.
Myths dispelled
For some time, cryptocurrencies have been presented in mainstream outlets as not just work involving risk, but as downright dangerous and associated with the darkest corners of the web.
According to this portrayal, crypto is reserved for criminals and fraudsters, who use it to evade authorities, commit fraud (or worse), and roll in victims.
In younger generations, however, these myths are dispelled. This is not to say that there aren’t issues around fraud and reckless or dishonest behavior, or that criminals haven’t taken advantage of crypto. But the idea that crypto is mainly for criminals, that it has no legitimate use cases, and that cash is immune to such problems, is simply not true.
Also, some of crypto’s recent implementations have been decidedly positive, naïve even: through NFTs, blockchains are being used to trade art and illustration, and crypto is becoming connected with the gaming industry.
Gradually, a more balanced view is coming into focus, and the portrayal of crypto as inherently suspicious no longer holds the sway it once did.
The question is what does the landscape look like if we fast forward five, ten or twenty years? There is no certainty, but a generation of digital natives could easily collapse into a generation of crypto natives.
A generational shift has unstoppable momentum, but is not confrontational, because it simply represents a changed way of seeing the world. Such shifts are inevitable and occur as a consequence of something that cannot be stopped: people who have been shaped together in a certain way grow older and assume positions of responsibility.
And it may be that embracing crypto is just such a generational shift, as attitudes prevalent in older generations cease to be common in the generations that follow. These attitudes are, if we are discussing crypto, in relation specifically to technology, money, savings and investments, and online behavior.
Accessibility and fairness
It is sometimes said that crypto is difficult to understand and that getting on board is a process that still has too much friction, requiring wallets to be set up, fiat to be converted to crypto, and all ideally with at least a surface understanding of blockchain technology.
However, an alternative perspective on this is that compared to traditional investing, getting started with crypto requires less homework, and emphasizes being open to everyone. The friction in crypto is practical, and learning how wallets and exchanges work is a hands-on tutorial that isn’t particularly complicated.
The friction in traditional investing, on the other hand, can appear technical and academic, with complex instruments and sometimes an exclusionary character.
In some respects, crypto is a fairer option: since it is newer, no one has an insurmountable advantage, not enough time has passed for a hack order to be embedded, there is a desire to onboard new users, and moreover, crypto is in itself. as opposed to hierarchies and exclusion.
Gamification
The lines between gaming and finance are blurring, as crypto projects feature 8-bit aesthetics, cute NFTs, and interfaces that look and feel like retro games.
For a while, Axie Infinity was a success, ostensibly a game, but also providing full-time income for some of its users. The Axie model turned out to be unsustainable and prices have now collapsed, but despite this a seed was planted and the trend towards gamification gained momentum.
For a generation raised on home gaming, with consoles always present in the background, gamified financial products make intuitive sense.
A life online
As generations who grew up online come of age, change is driven by people for whom digital currencies and virtual assets are a natural fit.
On the one hand, this could mean that CBDCs become, from the perspective of organizations seeking implementation, an easier sell. But if there is both a rejection of centralization and an embrace of cashless transactions, then cryptocurrencies are leading the way.
Looking at the state of web technology, over the past ten or fifteen years we’ve seen a shift from the anything-goes, liberal ethos that defined the early web to a highly centralized model where a handful of tech behemoths exercise massively increased control .
With that in mind, a reverse swing of the pendulum could result from decentralization and away from top-down micromanagement. If such a cyclical trend change manifests, crypto will be in the right place at the right time.
Generation opportunity
Blockchain technology brings potentially lucrative opportunities to the table, as a new industry unfolds and expands in real time. To make entry easier, there is a growing pool of inexpensive educational and educational content available online, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to acquire useful skills.
Moreover, blockchain-oriented projects often operate from scratch and meritocratically, ensuring that if workers are skilled and can demonstrate skills, then factors such as financial or academic background are unimportant.
Blockchain developers are taking these opportunities, but so are artists and designers who have found, through NFTs, technology-centric new routes to advance their careers.
Myths dispelled
For some time, cryptocurrencies have been presented in mainstream outlets as not just work involving risk, but as downright dangerous and associated with the darkest corners of the web.
According to this portrayal, crypto is reserved for criminals and fraudsters, who use it to evade authorities, commit fraud (or worse), and roll in victims.
In younger generations, however, these myths are dispelled. This is not to say that there aren’t problems around fraud and reckless or dishonest behavior, or that criminals haven’t taken advantage of crypto. But the idea that crypto is mainly for criminals, that it has no legitimate use cases, and that cash is immune to such problems, is simply not true.
Also, some of crypto’s recent implementations have been decidedly positive, naïve even: through NFTs, blockchains are being used to trade art and illustration, and crypto is becoming connected with the gaming industry.
Gradually, a more balanced view is coming into focus, and the portrayal of crypto as inherently suspicious no longer holds the sway it once did.
The question is what does the landscape look like if we fast forward five, ten or twenty years? There is no certainty, but a generation of digital natives could easily collapse into a generation of crypto natives.
