Opinion: Has the positive impact of the cryptocurrency industry on the world truly improved?

Cryptocurrency researcher Ignas posted a reevaluation of a question posed by Vitalik six years ago, "The cryptocurrency market cap has reached $0.5 trillion, but have we really won?" With the market cap now at $1.5 trillion six years later, is the industry truly progressing?

Vitalik's Reflection Six Years Ago: What Have We Achieved?

Ethereum founder Vitalik expressed in 2017 that the cryptocurrency market had reached a market capitalization of $500 billion, reflecting on the industry's impact on the world.

So total cryptocoin market cap just hit $0.5T today. But have we *earned* it?

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 13, 2017

Vitalik raised several points for consideration:

• How many unbanked people have been provided with banking services?
• How many censorship-resistant business models have been provided for the people?
• How many DApps with significant demand have been created?
• How much value has been stored in meaningful smart contracts?
• How many Venezuelans have been protected from malignant currency inflation?
• What is the actual usage of micropayment channels?

At that time, Vitalik did not provide answers, but he believed that these numbers were not zero, yet far from enough, indicating that the industry still needs to continue to bring about greater impact.

Six Years Later: What Are the Benefits of Blockchain?

Ignas stated that the total market value of cryptocurrencies has just reached $1.5 trillion, attempting to reassess Vitalik's questions from years ago, hoping to see evidence of industry growth and to correctly understand the impact of the Web3 industry.

How Many Unbanked People Have Been Provided with Banking Services?

Although bank accounts seem ubiquitous in Taiwan, there are still 1.4 billion people globally without bank accounts, with 4.5% in the United States.

According to a study by the Federal Reserve of the United States findings, high-income earners view cryptocurrencies as investments, with only 1% using them for transactions. In contrast, among those who use cryptocurrencies for transactions, 60% earn less than $50,000 a year, and 13% are unbanked.

It is evident that cryptocurrencies have indeed helped unbanked individuals to access basic financial functions.

How Many Censorship-Resistant Business Models Have Been Provided for the People?

Cryptocurrencies are indeed being used to resist corrupt regimes. According to a report by Chainalysis report, cryptocurrencies were used during the pandemic to provide financial aid to doctors and nurses in Venezuela without interference from the corrupt local authorities.

This year, Ukraine also raised $225 million in cryptocurrency donations.

How Many DApps with Significant Demand Have Been Created?

Ignas cited examples, according to DappRadar data, Uniswap v3 alone has 35,000 active users weekly and 580,000 monthly active users.

Decentralized social services with lower speculative nature like LensProtocol are also experiencing growth, currently with thousands of active users.

How Much Value Has Been Stored in Meaningful Smart Contracts?

As of now, according to DeFiLlama data, the DeFi industry currently has a TVL of approximately $47 billion, with a peak of $150 billion in the past.

There have been many recent events favorable to on-chain products. Decentralized exchanges are now challenging the position of centralized exchanges impacted by compliance; companies like Maker and Avalanche are introducing RWAs to create new applications on-chain; the market value of censorship-resistant stablecoin smart contracts like LUSD is gradually increasing.

How Many Venezuelans Have Been Protected from the Impact of Malignant Currency Inflation?

Venezuela ranks 40th globally in the Chainalysis Cryptocurrency Adoption Index.

Cryptocurrencies have indeed been helpful to the local population. With the domestic currency's sharp decline, the purchase volume of stablecoins has surged. According to a report by Chainalysis on the impact of severe inflation on the cryptocurrency market in specific regions, remittances have become an essential part of the Venezuelan economy, with many turning to stablecoins as an alternative for remittances.

What Is the Actual Usage of Micropayment Channels?

Since 2017, the narrative of cryptocurrencies being used for micropayments has gradually disappeared, with fewer instances of such business models. However, Ignas believes that cryptocurrency micropayments will remain an essential service in the future.

With the increasing popularity of low-transaction-fee blockchain networks like Layer2 and Solana, cryptocurrency micropayments will soon receive more attention, and we may see more adoption of AI in machine-to-machine transactions.

Industry Is Indeed Progressing

Since Vitalik raised these key questions, six years have passed, and the total market value of cryptocurrencies has grown from $500 billion to today's $1.5 trillion.

The innovations and records of these years, Ignas believes, are enough to prove that the industry's impact has indeed strengthened, leading the world in a positive direction.

However, there is still significant room for growth, whether in efficiency, social acceptance, regulatory frameworks, innovative application services, etc., there is still much room for improvement, and it is hoped that in the coming years, the industry will indeed demonstrate greater impact.