random reasons why crypto is important - ability for anyone to experiment in previously gatekept systems at scale (economic systems, governance systems). - borderless immutable money - prove who is human on the internet - prove what is real vs a deepfake - own your digital persona (gets more important as more of our lives move online) - strict global consensus is useful (h/t polynya) - An immutable record of history; preserve culture and stories..and if you want to get all sci-fi: dna. - allow any subculture to connect and share value globally - escape state level attacks on your worth - attribution for your work - forces greater transparency for any system it integrates with - can combine privacy with audit ability; never been done before. - powers a globalized gig economy that can also be reputation based and trusted - reduced middlemen - global access to investment vehicles which are currently gatekept - it’s fun and attracts interesting types of builders - flexible work environments for a generation with the lowest work retention ever (gen z) - can prevent the metaverse from having a dictator who has an off switch - can align AI through capital/compute incentives and let AI participate in the broader economy - prediction markets are truth machines - allows for cryptography to finally get funded at scale, lots of wasted money, but some of it ends up advancing cryptography (which is arguably the most important digital primitive).