A Dire State of Play

Crypto is at a crossroads. The daily stream of scandals have convinced many that the primary purpose of Web3 has been to tokenize greed, consequently risking alienating the very global community needed to drive the next technological revolution.

We are likely now not so much in a crypto winter as a crypto dark age. The aftermath of a meteor that wiped out the crypto dinosaurs that came before. However, from the wreckage is the opportunity for something new and better to emerge.

Finance is detached from reality

Both TradFi and DeFi suffer from a detachment from the real world. Coins, stocks, bonds, and all manner of financial instruments go up and down in price or perceived value based largely on sentiment, rumor and all manner of financial engineering.

Critics of blockchain technology, Web3, and DeFi, in particular maintain that these are solutions in search of a problem, and that existing systems of commerce and digital interaction have already been optimized for consumer needs. Critique of nascent blockchain technology focus as being less efficient than the incumbent systems that have been honed over the course of decades is commentary that can be largely discounted. However, even the most diehard Web3 maximalists must admit that much of DeFi has devolved into speculation that functions primarily as a wealth transfer from the many to the few.

Are We Advancing or Devolving?

In the wider world, a sense has taken hold that, despite the massive amounts of technological, social and political progress we have made in the past century, we are still all headed largely in the wrong direction. We have eradicated devastating diseases such as polio and live much longer than our ancestors, but we are also consuming less nutritious diets than ever. We have developed technology that connects anyone to everyone, but millions have never felt more alone. The world is the most prosperous it has ever been, and yet people are still unhappy and resources are distributed with increasing inequality.

We suspect that things are getting either worse or better, but we don't know for sure. We also know that what does not get measured does not get done. What we need is a way to track the world's advances and regressions, the wins and losses.