Crypto, Blockchain, Smart Contracts, and Defi: Changing the World: The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.

For most of the last decade crypto seemed to me like a fad. But, of course, Crypto is now a 3 trillion-dollar fad.

I have been having my mind blown lately by all the innovative tech developments gathering steam in the crypto space.

I have been checking out podcasts and videos on Cryptocurrencies, tokens, blockchain, Defi, smart contracts, web3… the world is rapidly evolving with incredible innovative platforms for social, financial, business, legal, and entertainment use cases. These converging innovations are wreaking creative destruction and disruption across industries and sectors.

Remember travel agents and their lock on flight reservations and scheduling with the SABRE system? Or when pundits viewed personal computers as not much more than toys? Or when we rented VHS tapes for the weekend?

Crypto and blockchain et al. represent a revolution on that order of magnitude. Like William Gibson said, “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.”

Are you curious about Crypto and these intersecting and overlapping developments?

If so, you should know about the developments happening in this space. The crypto ecosystem is changing rapidly, with innovations coming out every day. In this blog post, I will give you a tiny overview of the crypto ecosystem, what is going on with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, and point you to some resources to start your journey down the rabbit hole.

Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual tokens that use cryptography (where the Crypto comes from in the name) to secure their transactions and control the creation of new units. Each transaction is encrypted and added to a ledger held over a distributed network of computers.

Cryptocurrencies are decentralized and not subject to government or financial institution control. For example, Fiat currencies are money issued by governments. Cryptocurrencies are math-based money. Calculations are required, and numbers need to be crunched to validate transactions and issue coins or tokens.

Cryptocurrencies use blockchain technology, a decentralized public ledger that records transactions.

Blockchain technology is the underlying infrastructure of cryptocurrencies and enables peer-to-peer transfer of digital assets without an intermediary. This disintermediation is disruptive to the banking industry, which traditionally held the transaction ledgers since the Medici in Renaissance Florence. That banking revolution fueled the renaissance. How will this one transforms our world?

The record of cryptocurrency transfers on a blockchain cannot be altered or hacked. It is stored across multiple computers in a distributed network system. With cryptocurrencies and blockchain, transactions are transparent and cannot be manipulated.

Currently, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are the most prominent. They are used for payments, investments, and as stores of value. However, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology can be used for a variety of other applications such as smart contracts, decentralized finance (Defi), supply chain management, voting and governance, healthcare records, and more. A new generation of creative applications and tokens are making new and valuable use cases.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are changing the world. But to understand their potential, you need to look past currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum and towards projects that use cryptos to power decentralized applications (dapps) and decentralized finance or “Defi” products. These new tokens act as incentives and payments for service in these new applications.

That’s where the real action is. These Defi projects can upend entire industries or even change the fabric of society forever. Think of how quickly we all adapted to smartphones and social media and how that has changed social interactions. So get ready for another rapid round of accelerated change.

The smart contracts powering Defi products make it easier than ever before for developers and entrepreneurs to build new decentralized applications and infrastructure like exchanges, wallets, payment providers, remittances and money transfers, and more. All that “plumbing” is necessary to make the smart contracts functional.

The first generation of cryptos and blockchain projects was about building new currencies to replace old money systems that governments can manipulate when they print more money. But Defi is exciting because it’s more ambitious than that. Decentralized finance promises many possibilities, from new kinds of financial products to more democratic organizations and transparent banking.

The potential for Defi is vast, and the financial markets are starting to take notice. So if you’re looking to invest in blockchain technology, this is an area you need to research and monitor.

There are many great videos that you can access through YouTube that detail all these topics and the tokens and the infrastructure they are powering.

Some I have found very informative are:

• Whiteboard crypto: great explainer videos
• Bankless: super interviews and expertise
• Max Maher: digs deep into performance metrics
• InvestAnswers: in-depth analysis by an expert
• Also, check out the recent Tim Ferriss podcast episodes with 1. Balaji Srinivasan and 2. with Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant. These guys are all brilliant and fascinating, and after you listen to these episodes (twice to get all the info), you will see the world differently.

The crypto ecosystem is rapidly evolving, with innovations coming out every day. Exciting things are happening in this space, and I am excited to see what comes next!

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