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The Bridge: You may have heard something this week about what appeared to be the crypto apocalypse, (and the millennial founder of a massive cryptocurrency exchange as one of the four horsemen). Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has fled the US following a total meltdown of his platform FTX, and is in custody in the Bahamas. $10 Billion (with a B) in user funds have been wiped from the slate. Whispers of political corruption, money laundering, and worse have been making the rounds on every social media platform.
The US government is stepping in, and we are witnessing the dawning of a new age of digital currency. This Enron-level catastrophe might be the canary in the coalmine – or it could signal a radical shift in public awareness and understanding. We’re talking about Decentralization, of course – and this might sound familiar to you. We’ve covered the broad strokes in past issues, and now we see an opportunity to give you a little more context.
Before we dive in, there’s a silver lining to this thundercloud: the first-ever member of Gen Z is making his way to congress. This means that the generation that will be most affected by these radical changes is already stepping up to do their part.
Good, Bad, and Ugly 💸
Imagine paying a visit to your banking institution of choice to make a withdrawal. Upon arrival, the doors are locked and there’s a sign on the door that says, “Sorry, but all of your money is gone. Good luck!”
On your way back to your car, a bystander pushes you onto the ground. They point and laugh before walking away.
The bank in this analogy is FTX – the bystander is the internet. There hasn’t been much sympathy from non-crypto web users for the damage done. Many are content with an “I told you so”.
Realistically, there is too much interest in decentralized finance for it to be totally crippled by this development. We’ve predicted bumps in the road, and this FTX catastrophe is one of them. The reality is that Web3 is an inevitability, and there is a need for a swift pivot if the younger generation is to capitalize on this new environment.
Gen Z Steps Up 🇺🇸
So the good news: Gen Z is going to Washington. This first young member of congress might spur on an entire generation. Now that Zoomers know that making a difference can happen way outside the confines of social media, we’ll be seeing plenty of representation in the coming years.
Which is great – it means that Z-llennials will have a direct impact on the future of regulations, crypto, and the Web3 environment that will contain it all. With 94% of all crypto purchases being made by Gen Z and Millennials, it’s apparent that they’re curious and eager to forge ahead.
We’ll be rooting them on!
