The Multifaceted Nature of the Encryption World: Developers, Believers, and Speculators

Although cryptocurrency seems controversial to the outside world, it is actually a new field full of opportunities. It is built on open-source software and has the potential to break the monopoly of traditional finance and tech giants.

So why do most people think that cryptocurrency is full of scams? If that's the case, why are so many people still curious about it? This article will explain this phenomenon through the "circle of the encryption industry" model, helping readers better understand the diverse ecology of the encryption world.

Encryption Concentric Circle Model

This model simplifies the encryption industry into four concentric circles:

Core developers are at the center, surrounded by the general public, with encryption enthusiasts and speculators in between.

Core Developer

At the core are those developers and thinkers who truly understand the essence of encryption technology. They have a profound insight into the problems of the current world and how cryptography and blockchain technology can address these issues. They focus on the long-term impact of technology on the future, rather than short-term gains.

In this circle, there are Bitcoin founders like Satoshi Nakamoto, who chose to retreat after creating Bitcoin because he understood that decentralized Bitcoin does not need a leader. There is also Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, who is an expert in multiple fields such as cryptography, philosophy, and crypto-economics, dedicated to building public products and social systems that promote global welfare. Despite his substantial wealth, Vitalik lives a simple life, traveling everywhere with just a backpack.

The work of core developers is often thankless. They build open-source software, creating enormous value for the world, yet rarely receive commensurate rewards. The core development teams of Bitcoin and Ethereum have been working hard to improve the protocols, regularly publicly discussing future development directions.

These people are dedicated to the encryption industry because they believe in its mission, see a better future, and work tirelessly for it. They are purists in the encryption world, attracting more people to join this industry with vision and leadership.

Encryption Believers

The second layer is encryption believers. They firmly believe in the vision depicted by the core developers and innovate based on the infrastructure they have built.

This circle includes not only ordinary users but also application developers, members of decentralized autonomous organization ( DAO ), and startups, among others. They develop interoperable products and services around the underlying protocol.

Ethereum is such a foundational protocol, with many applications built on top of it, such as decentralized finance platforms like Uniswap and Aave. Various DAO organizations have also emerged within the Ethereum ecosystem. At the same time, many companies, such as venture capital funds and media organizations, are conducting business around Ethereum.

These encryption believers are the "settlers" of the new world, not short-term "tourists". They are building infrastructure on this new continent, testing new products, gradually achieving decentralized asset management, and establishing entirely new digital identities. They are creating a free and open metaverse with open-source software and an open spirit.

In this circle, there are pioneers like Rune Christensen, who saw the demand for a decentralized dollar and founded MakerDAO, which now has billions of DAI stablecoins in circulation. There is also Hayden Adams, who independently developed Uniswap with a $10,000 grant from the Ethereum Foundation, providing users with a free and open asset exchange system.

Cami Russo from Argentina has personally experienced the hyperinflation of her country's currency and has witnessed the actual demand for encryption. She founded The Defiant media to spread encryption knowledge. Anthony Sassano produces videos every day to introduce the latest developments in the Ethereum ecosystem to the world.

These encryption enthusiasts play an important role in spreading the word. They help showcase the progress of the industry to the outside world, as core developers often focus on the technology itself and neglect promotion. The reason the encryption community thrives is that everyone believes encryption technology can create a better and freer world, which is an essential path for human progress.

However, this idealistic world of encryption is difficult for many outsiders to understand. Part of the reason is the existence of some speculators, which obscures the nature of the encryption industry.

Encryption Speculators

There is a barrier between encryption believers and the outside world - those speculators. Their presence makes it difficult for the outside world to hear the voices of the true pioneers from the encryption industry.

These speculators are skilled at self-promotion, crafting grand images. They employ a polarizing strategy, which has proven to be very effective in the political arena. They are not foolish; they know that the encryption frontier holds immense wealth, and their goal is to seize that wealth.

It is these speculators who have caused the negative image of the encryption industry. They are more high-profile and exaggerated than ordinary practitioners. They promote themselves rather than the technology itself. They usually do not care about the essence of the technology being built, only concerned about how much profit they can make, even if such methods are unsustainable or unethical. They deliberately design some malicious products specifically to deceive newcomers who have just entered this field.

They created paid communities, claiming to share insider information, but in reality, they are inducing others to take over. They developed seemingly complex decentralized finance projects, which are essentially scams that transfer money from users' pockets to their own.

Most speculators appear in a bull market, copying the current popular concepts. In 2017, they hyped ICOs, and in 2021, they created shoddy NFT projects. They keenly sense every opportunity to profit and then swarm in.

These people often have some common characteristics:

• Arrogant personality, boastful, and sometimes even aggressive.
• They have a relatively small but extremely active and fanatical group of followers, forming a kind of cult of personality. These followers constantly repeat meaningless slogans, reciting pre-prepared lines, and selling tokens to others. They suppress any dissent and are a typical example of human-computer integration in modern social media.
• Launching some shiny but ultimately meaningless encryption products, which are destined to face collapse.

Some typical cases:

Alex Mashinsky founded and operated Celsius, a centralized encryption asset custody lending service. Essentially, this is a banking business, but he claims to be disrupting traditional banking under the banner of decentralized finance. In reality, he established a bank that engages in high-risk speculative trading with customer deposits.

Daniele Sesta founded the Wonderland ecosystem. He has a loyal following online everywhere. When people realized that its so-called "algorithmic stablecoin" was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme, Wonderland ultimately collapsed.

Do Kwon is the eccentric and combative founder of the Terra project. The collapse of Terra resulted in the disappearance of $50 billion in assets, making it one of the largest capital loss events in the history of encryption. In hindsight, the Terra ecosystem resembles a giant Ponzi scheme. Do Kwon's aggressive remarks on Twitter further fueled the frenzy.

Must we coexist with speculators?

The answer is yes, but it is also no.

We cannot directly stop the existence of speculators. When we insist that decentralized value is above all else, this is the price that must be paid.

Inclusiveness is one of the core values of encryption and cannot be sacrificed. Just like the internet, anyone can use encryption technology without permission; it is a public infrastructure in the currency and financial sectors. Over time, as more people participate, this infrastructure will become increasingly useful.

Unfortunately, this permissionless feature also means it is difficult to prevent speculative scams. Decentralized financial innovations have liberated ordinary people from the constraints of traditional banks, but it also means it is challenging to stop some individuals from profiting in unethical ways.

Although we cannot directly stop them, we do not have to coexist with them.

We can counter them through education. As an industry, we really need to better engage the public before speculators do. Explaining the nature of encryption is indeed more challenging compared to marketing practices that rely on exaggeration. Understanding how this industry works is much harder than simply believing some charismatic individuals selling their tokens.

Fortunately, most people today already have a basic understanding of the internet and know how to stay away from online junk and viruses. One day, people will also develop the same immunity to the traps in the encryption field.