The "Portrait" of the Encryption World: Developers, Believers, and Speculators

Cryptocurrency is, for many outsiders, just a corner of the internet filled with fraud and scams. However, for those who delve into it, the crypto world is a land of opportunity, a new frontier, a digital world built on open-source software that has the potential to break the monopoly of traditional finance and tech giants.

So, why do most people think that cryptocurrencies are full of scams? If that is the case, why are there still a steady stream of people entering this field? What piques their curiosity? Or is it that encryption is essentially a huge scam?

This article will introduce a "encryption industry concentric circle" model to explain why many outsiders view this industry as a scam. This model can help newcomers to encryption better understand the field and identify different types of participants—those worth paying attention to and those to avoid.

Encryption Concentric Circle Model

This model simplifies the encryption industry into four concentric circles. At the center are the core developers, the outermost layer is the rest of the world, and in the middle are the encryption enthusiasts and speculators.

Core Developers

Starting from the innermost layer. Core developers are the builders and thinkers of the industry, based on the most fundamental encryption principles. They have a deep understanding of the problems the current world faces and how cryptography and blockchain technology can solve these issues, as well as insights into their profound impact on the future. They understand the philosophical, technological, and moral values that this technology can bring to the world.

In this circle, you will find the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, who pioneered the Bitcoin blockchain and then quietly exited, as he understood that a decentralized system needs to rid itself of the influence of leaders.

You will also see Ethereum's founder, Vitalik Buterin. Vitalik is a practitioner of the digital age, proficient in encryption, philosophy, mathematics, and crypto-economics. He is dedicated to building public goods and social systems that promote global well-being. Despite his considerable wealth, Vitalik is known for his simplicity, often staying in ordinary hotels and living out of a backpack because he does not wish to consume resources beyond what is necessary.

The work of core developers is often thankless and strenuous. Developing open-source software usually does not receive the attention it deserves, and their compensation is far lower than the value they create for the world. Bitcoin core developers work hard every day to improve the Bitcoin system. Ethereum core developers hold public meetings every week to discuss future directions and how to make the infrastructure they are building better serve society.

These people are involved because they believe in the mission, they see a better future, and they long to make it a reality. Core developers are the idealists at the center of the encryption world, and their leadership creates the allure of the encryption world and tirelessly works for its future.

Encryption Believers

The second layer is encryption believers.

These are the most loyal followers in the encryption world. They share the same vision as the core developers and continue to innovate based on the foundation laid by the core developers.

This circle includes not only users but also application developers, members of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and companies, all of whom build interconnected products and service layers around these new protocols.

Ethereum is a foundational protocol on which many projects are developed. Applications such as DEXs, lending platforms, or stablecoins are built on top of Ethereum's smart contract layer. Various DAOs also organize themselves using Ethereum. Some companies have also built their businesses around Ethereum, such as venture capital funds, news agencies, or media companies.

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

They are citizens of the encryption world, building infrastructure at this new frontier. They are testing products in the experimental phase, gradually freeing themselves from reliance on traditional banks by managing assets on the encryption track and creating a new digital identity for themselves. These settlers are building an open and free metaverse here, adhering to open-source software and the spirit of open source.

For example, Rune Christensen saw the demand for a decentralized dollar and conceived the vision of MakerDAO when the concept of DAO had not yet matured. Today, billions of DAI are in circulation, helping people hedge against the risks of poor government monetary management.

Another example is Hayden Adams, who independently developed Uniswap, a public and free asset exchange system, with the help of a $10,000 grant from the Ethereum Foundation after learning programming.

There are also people like Cami Russo, who lives in Argentina and has personally experienced how the vicious inflation of the peso has created a demand for encryption products. DAI, as a native encryption stablecoin, has been widely adopted in Argentina and has become a tool for Argentinians to combat inflation rates of 50%-100%. After studying journalism, Cami founded the media platform The Defiant out of her love for cryptocurrency.

Anthony Sassano is another typical encryption believer. He creates videos every day to introduce what has happened in the Ethereum ecosystem in the past 24 hours to the world.

These people are responsible for spreading the progress of the industry. Core developers and application builders often are not very good at self-marketing because they focus on building the future. The encryption industry relies on the surrounding community to get this job done.

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

This encryption world is often unseen or misunderstood by the public.

One important reason is that some speculators hinder the outside world from recognizing the true pioneers of encryption.

Encryption Speculators

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

Speculators often shape a grand image through self-marketing. They adopt a polarization strategy and style that is effective in the political arena. These individuals are not foolish; they realize that the encryption frontier holds immense wealth, and their sole purpose in coming here is to seize profits.

It is these speculators that have given cryptocurrencies a bad reputation. They are more high-profile and exaggerated than ordinary crypto practitioners. They focus more on promoting themselves than on developing technology. They usually do not care about the essence of the technology they are building, only how much money they can make from it... no matter how unsustainable or unethical that practice may be. They deliberately design malicious products with the intent to deceive newcomers to crypto.

They create paid communities, claiming to share "insider information", but in reality, it's just a way for them to let their followers take the fall. If you fall into their trap, they will design complex decentralized finance projects, which in fact only transfer money from your pocket to theirs.

Most speculators appear during a bull market, replicating the currently popular concepts. They launched fake Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in 2017 or hastily created NFT projects in 2021. Speculators keenly sense every opportunity to profit and then flock in.

They share some common characteristics:

• Arrogant character, speaks boastfully, sometimes with aggression.
• A small but highly engaged and fervent community has formed around them, displaying a kind of cult of personality. Followers repeat meaningless slogans, recite pre-scripted lines, and then sell tokens to people. They suppress dissent, presenting a hybrid of humans and machines that we often see in the modern social media world.
• A product or system that is fundamentally unsustainable... even if it looks good at the moment. A superficially shiny new encryption product is actually meaningless... and will inevitably collapse in the end.

Must we 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 else, this is the price that must be paid.

Inclusive finance is a core value; it cannot be sacrificed.

Just like the internet, anyone can use encryption without permission... It is a public utility in the currency and financial sector that anyone with internet access can use. Over time, as more and more people use it, these public utilities will become increasingly useful, and the world of decentralized finance will continue to improve.

Unfortunately, this permissionless characteristic also means it is difficult to prevent speculators' scams. Permissionless financial innovation has freed us from the constraints of traditional banks and Wall Street, but it also means it is hard to stop them from trying to profit inappropriately.

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 the speculators do. It is difficult to compete with mass marketing that uses exaggerated strategies. Encryption is complex, and understanding how this industry operates is much harder than simply believing some charismatic people who want you to buy their tokens.

The good news is that most people today have a basic intuition to stay away from online junk information and viruses. After all, the encryption currency field will not be an exception.