The Diversity of the Encryption World: Developers, Believers, and Speculators

Cryptocurrency is often seen by outsiders as a corner of the internet filled with scams and schemes. However, for those who delve into it, the crypto world represents a new realm full of opportunities, a digital world built on open-source software, with the potential to break the monopolies of traditional finance and tech giants.

So, why do most people think that cryptocurrency is full of scams? If that is true, why do people keep flocking into this field? What piques their curiosity? Or is cryptocurrency really just a massive scam?

This article will introduce a "encryption industry concentric circle" model to explain why the outside world has such a negative view of this industry. This model can help newcomers to encryption better understand this field, learn about its various roles, know who to be wary of, and who to avoid.

encryption concentric circle model

The model simplifies the encryption industry into four concentric circles. The innermost circle consists of core developers, the outermost circle consists of the general public, and in between are the encryption believers and speculators.

Core Developers

Let us start from the very center. Core developers are the builders and philosophers of this industry, starting from the most fundamental encryption principles. They have a profound understanding of the current issues in the world, how cryptography and blockchain technology can solve these problems, and their fundamental impact on the future. They understand the philosophical, technological, and ethical benefits that this technology can bring to the world.

This is the essence of what is called "encryption currency value".

In this circle, you will find the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, who pioneered the Bitcoin blockchain and then gradually faded away because he knew that a decentralized system without a leader would be better.

You will also see the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin. Vitalik is a monk of the digital age, proficient in encryption, philosophy, mathematics, and cryptoeconomics. He is committed to building public goods and social systems that promote global welfare. Despite his wealth, Vitalik lives an extremely simple life, often carrying only a backpack and staying in ordinary hotels, as he does not wish to consume resources beyond what is necessary.

The work of core developers is often thankless and arduous. They build open-source software, creating immense value for the world, yet often do not receive the recognition and rewards they deserve.

Core developers of Bitcoin and Ethereum are working hard every day to improve these systems. They regularly discuss publicly the next steps in development and how to better serve societal needs with these infrastructures.

These people are dedicated to it because they firmly believe in this cause, they see a better future, and they are willing to work tirelessly for it.

Core developers are purists at the center of the encryption world, and their leadership creates the appeal of the encryption world and continually drives the field forward.

encryption believers

Following the core developers are the encryption enthusiasts.

These are the most devout believers in the encryption world. They share the same vision as the core developers and continue to build upon the foundation laid by the core developers.

This circle includes not only ordinary users but also application developers, members of decentralized organizations (DAO), and various companies, all of which are building interrelated products and services on top of these new protocols.

Ethereum is such a foundational protocol, on which we all develop. Applications like certain DEXs and lending platforms are built on the smart contract layer of Ethereum. Various DAOs also use Ethereum for organization. Many companies, such as venture capital funds, news organizations, or media companies, also conduct business around the Ethereum ecosystem.

The people gathered in this circle are settlers, not tourists.

They are citizens of the encryption world, building infrastructure in this new domain. They are testing new products in the experimental phase, gradually achieving de-banking by managing assets on the encryption track, and establishing a brand new digital identity for themselves. These settlers live in this open and free metaverse, continuously innovating with open-source software and the spirit of open source.

In this circle, there are people like Rune Christensen, who saw the demand for a decentralized dollar and envisioned and founded MakerDAO before the concept of DAO even emerged. Today, there are billions of dollars worth of DAI stablecoins in circulation, providing people in many countries with a tool to combat poor management of their national currencies.

There are also people like Hayden Adams, who, after learning programming, independently developed a DEX platform with a $10,000 grant from the Ethereum Foundation, providing everyone with a public and free asset exchange system.

There are also people like Camila Russo, who personally experienced the hyperinflation of the Argentine peso and witnessed how encryption products met real needs. Native encryption stablecoins like DAI have been widely adopted in Argentina, becoming an important tool for locals to combat inflation rates of 50%-100%.

Camila studied journalism and, after gaining a deeper understanding of encryption, founded a media outlet focused on this field.

Anthony Sassano is one of my favorite encryption advocates. He creates a video every day to introduce important events that occurred in the Ethereum ecosystem over the past 24 hours to the world.

These people are responsible for communicating the latest developments in the industry to the outside world. Core developers and application builders often struggle to promote themselves, as their focus is on building the future. The encryption industry needs the surrounding community to accomplish this work.

The reason this community exists is that we all came here for the same reason: to believe that the existence of encryption currencies is to build a better and freer world... This is a necessary step for humanity to move towards the future.

This encryption world is difficult for many ordinary people to see or understand.

One important reason for this situation is that some speculators have created a barrier between encryption believers and the outside world.

Encryption Speculators

Between the encryption believers and the outside world, there exists an obstacle-filled area... much like an asteroid belt composed of speculators, making it difficult for the outside world to hear the true pioneers' voices from the encryption industry.

Speculators often boast about themselves and create grand images. They adopt extremely opposing strategies and styles, techniques we have already seen the power of in the political arena. Speculators are not foolish individuals; they realize that the encryption frontier holds enormous wealth, and their sole purpose in coming here is to seize that wealth.

It is these speculators that have made encryption notorious. They are more high-profile and exaggerated than ordinary encryption participants. They promote themselves rather than the technology. They usually do not care about the technology being built, only about how much money they can make from it... regardless of how unsustainable or unethical this practice may be. They deliberately design malicious products with the intention of deceiving naive encryption newcomers.

They create paid social media channels, claiming to share "insider information", but in reality, it's just to get you to take the bait. If you unfortunately fall into their trap, they will create seemingly complex DeFi projects, which in fact only transfer money from your pocket to theirs.

Most speculators emerge during a bull market, copying the current hot concepts. They created fake ICO projects in 2017 or hastily made NFT projects in 2021. Speculators keenly seek every opportunity to profit, flocking in.

They have some common characteristics:

• Arrogant personality, boastful, sometimes aggressive.
• A small but extremely fanatical community has formed around these people, exhibiting characteristics of personality cults. They constantly repeat meaningless slogans, recite pre-designed lines, and then sell their tokens to people. They suppress dissent and create a typical combination of humans and robots that we commonly see in the modern social media world.
• A product or system that is fundamentally unsustainable... even if it looks good at the moment. A shiny new encryption product that is actually meaningless... will inevitably collapse in the end.

Do we have to coexist with speculators?

The answer is yes, but it is also no.

We cannot directly stop speculators. When we insist that the value of decentralization is above all, this is the price we must pay.

Universal accessibility is a core value; it cannot be sacrificed.

Just like the internet, anyone can use the encryption system without permission... It is a public infrastructure in the currency and financial sectors that anyone with internet access can utilize. Over time, as more and more people use it, this infrastructure will become increasingly useful, and the DeFi financial world will continue to improve.

Unfortunately, this permissionless nature also means it is difficult to prevent the scams of speculators. Permissionless financial innovation has freed us from the constraints of traditional banks and Wall Street, but it also means it is hard to stop some people from trying to profit in unethical ways.

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

We use education to combat them. As an industry, we really need to better reach the public before speculators do. It is not easy to compete with those who engage in large-scale marketing using exaggerated strategies. Encryption is complex, and understanding how this industry works is much more difficult than simply trusting some charismatic people to make you buy their tokens.

The good news is that most people now have basic judgment skills to stay away from junk information and viruses on the internet. Eventually, a similar discernment ability will also develop in the field of encryption.