Where Are the Crypto Devs?

On the surface, crypto seems just as exciting an industry as AI, or VR. But the fundamentals are entirely different. Crypto tech is valuable. It's valuable to banks. To most of the tech innovators of the world, the bloom is off the rose. It looks like crypto won't be anything more than a value-storage instrument.

When I'm curious about what the next technology will be, I look at where the devs are. Devs, the best ones, are inherently the earliest adopters. They're also extremely protective of their time. So when a dev stays up all night to hack away at something that fascinates them, I pay attention.

The energy around crypto is certainly of the "early adopter" variety. That's where investors have gotten confused. They see a bunch of energy from people wanting to be first; wanting to be exclusive. But underneath that shiny exterior, it's empty. The folks trying to be first are just hoping they're not the last ones on the boat.

That has nothing to do with technology, or advancement. There are no devs to be found in crypto.

Compare that to the AI world, with an ecosystem chock full of devs who are quietly building incredible things. Think about what AI can do today. A lot of it was unimaginable five years ago. Imagine what that space will look like five years from now. The rate of advancement continues to accelerate.

I suspect the crypto entrepreneurs will ashamedly admit they're in crypto just as long as they continue to burn down their investor's capital. When that well runs dry, they'll pivot to AI.