How I got Hooked on Crypto
From a skeptic to an optimist, my trip down the crypto rabbit hole
Let me admit before really getting into crypto I thought it was a scam. I had never looked at it closely enough, my perception was based on news headlines. But then one day in my Twitter feed last year (2021) I saw a Tweet from the founder of Polygon, the tweet was spreading like crazy and popped into my feed multiple times.
It was about galvanizing the crypto community to raise crypto donations for India’s deadly COVID outbreak. Skeptical I commented on the tweet - knowing the Indian nonprofit sector well I doubted how they would get crypto funds to India as only Indian nonprofits with special permission (FCRA) can accept foreign funds. I also doubted how crypto can buy actual goods and services.
Doubtful but curious I decided to follow the money trail, which was quite interesting and I wrote about it here. The campaign ended up raising over a billion dollars for India at that time and Crypto Relief continues to provide critical support to date. It was just amazing to see how money created out of thin air had the purchasing power to save lives.
This was my first brush with the power of crypto for good. This campaign is what got me hooked and awakened my desire to know more.
Just around that time Paul Graham the founder of Y Combinator tweeted about an NFT project by a nonprofit Noora Health aimed at raising funds for their healthcare program in India.
These two events had me going deep down the crypto rabbit hole. I started researching crypto like crazy, learning about Ethereum, Bitcoin, Defi, DAOs, etc the possibilities, the various applications. I even started digging into the past to see crypto philanthropy efforts prior.
It was all so fascinating, crypto came across as an opportunity to create a new world that is fair, open and inclusive.
Fast forward one year, so much has happened in crypto and social good. El Salvador made bitcoin their legal tender, overnight enabling over 70% of their unbanked people with crypto wallets to accept remittances and make payments from the convenience of their home.
NFTs emerged as a massive force for good, numerous NFT projects trading digital monkeys, cats and much more generated over $15 million in funds for nonprofits in 2021 and the trend continues upward. NFT funds were a windfall that nonprofits never expected, creating a new fundraising avenue for social good projects.
Crypto became an essential tool for Ukraine’s resistance. For the first time a government explicitly solicited donations in crypto. Collectively over $100 million in crypto donations have been raised for Ukraine to date.
What I like about crypto is that it gives the power to the people to make change. As the founder of Impact Market (decentralized income for the poorest) puts it,
Doesn’t matter if the bank or govt allows, we don’t care. People have access to internet they are ready to go.
This technology removes barriers and provides people a secure network that brings speed, scale and new kind of money.
I believe the real use case of crypto lies in the developing world, in countries where people have lost trust in their own currency or government, where many people still don’t have bank accounts. For the first time people from those countries now have an opportunity to participate in an open, global monetary system. All they need is an internet connection and a phone and they can be their own bank.
Crypto is much more that numbers going up, if you look beyond you’ll see the transformative power of the technology and my goal with this publication is to highlight the good in crypto.
A Vice video on Bitcoin transforming lives in El Salvador 📹
Some ever green content around crypto that I initially used to understand this ecosystem.
a16Z publication on crypto and web3
If you have any questions or ideas reach out to me on Twitter or leave a comment on my Substack.
Maya, thanks for the read. My idea with this article was to share my entry into crypto. The power consumption of POW chains is highly controversial issue and I would love to research it myself and address it in another article.
Thank you for sharing your story, Deepa. I agree that there is so much potential for GOOD in crypto. However, there is also a tremendous amount of energy being used for mining Bitcoin and Ethereum, so I was disappointed that you didn't mention the need to support cryptocurrencies that use proof of stake rather than proof of work consensus mechanisms. It isn't just a small difference between, say, Bitcoin and Solana. It is an enormous difference by magnitudes in energy usage! While we encourage more widespread use of crypto, we must at the same time inform users that their choices can either cause great harm or, in the case of some carbon-negative options, help the planet.