“The “cypherpunk values” that inspired the first smart contract platforms are likely to fade away over the next 10 years. This was stated by Variant Fund managing partner Jess Walden. In his opinion, institutional adoption forces optimization of protocols to speed up operations and meet regulatory requirements. Walden explained that the first decade of blockchain development rested on the original foundations of cypherpunk — “resistance to censorship, open source, permissionless, and a new glimmer of […]”, — write: businessua.com.ua
The “cypherpunk values” that inspired the first smart contract platforms are likely to fade away over the next 10 years. This was stated by the managing partner of Variant Fund Jess Walden.
In his opinion, institutional adoption forces optimization of protocols to speed up operations and meet regulatory requirements.
Walden explained that the first decade of blockchain development rested on the initial foundations of cypherpunk — “resistance to censorship, open source, permissionless, and a new glimpse of building a democratic and fair Internet on top of the world computer.”
Now, smart contract platforms are more focused on the values of “productivity, cost, profitability” and compliance with the law, rather than the more noble ideals of the past, the expert believes.
Walden pointed out that many of the popular blockchain uses — stablecoins, RWAs, or DePIN — no longer need to be decentralized or public. Instead, they only need to use the underlying network for “openness, interaction, and settlement.”
Although the current situation does not mean the complete end for blockchain cypherpunks, it probably marks its beginning, Variant Fund partner emphasized.
Walden concluded that cryptocurrency is being commercialized, and the market is currently tied to inevitable trade-offs such as loosening strict decentralization a bit to speed up product release.
“If you feel like the values that got you into crypto are being eroded by the mainstream market (I’ve heard that), try looking at it the other way. From the point of view of influence, the commercialization of cryptocurrencies, most likely, means only the beginning of real opportunities,” he clarified.
We will remind, in December 2023, Vitalik Buterin proposed to revive the “cryptopunk” revolution, which was conceived for Ethereum at the dawn of the network’s birth.
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