Building growing awareness and transparency in the cryptocurrency industry is one of the keys to making the new blockchain universe increasingly accessible and affordable for everyone. This is demonstrated by Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Coinbase. Each of his interviews, statements, and Twitter comments on industry news produces resonance within and outside the blockchain ecosystem.
“Crypto startups I wish I could build today” is one of his most famous tweets of recent times, with the audio post, accompanied by a blog post on the company’s website, in which he shares his predictions on what will be trends of evolution and lines of development of the crypto industry in 2024.
Curious to know what they are? Read on and find out with us!
Flatcoin
According to Armstrong, flatcoins could be a decisive tool in bringing the general public closer to the world of cryptocurrencies and gaining confidence and trust, to the point that it could be important for Coinbase to start experimenting and investing in this space.
Let’s take a step back. Do you know what flatcoins are? The term was invented by Balaji Srinivasan, ex-CTO of Coinbase, to refer to a new type of cryptocurrency that is beginning to appear in the crypto ecosystem.
It is a particular type of stablecoin, which has the advantage of being completely decentralized and relatively more stable than other kinds of cryptocurrencies.
Today, many people are still reluctant to use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoins or even to approach stablecoins, although these represent a valuable intermediate step because many of them are backed by fiat currencies (although, consequently, they have the limitation of suffering from the effects of inflation).
Flatcoins could be a perfect getaway to the world of blockchain currencies in 2024 because they are perceived as more reliable and secure, and less exposed than other currencies (fiat or crypto) to financial market instability. To offer an example, how many people here would prefer them for engaging with crypto games, crypto gambling, or shopping online even more securely? We bet a great many, because people are looking for security, and the more they have – the better! Just think of, nowadays, how many online casino players would prefer to use a casino with crypto rather than credit cards (it’s a vast percentage of them these days!). And do you know why? The reason is simple: there is more transaction security, fewer fees, and everything happens faster. And if standard cryptos have been able to be so successful, imagine what would happen when introducing Flatcoins to online casinos – it could be amazing!
On-chain reputation systems
We already have the ability to use decentralized identity systems, enabled by the blockchain, and to do so in a simple and intuitive way.
Think, for example, of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), the domain name service of the Ethereum ecosystem, which opens the door to Web3 dynamics and tools, with everything from transactions to smart contract interaction possibilities.
In current systems, however, one piece is still missing. What guarantees, in a decentralized system, the full trustworthiness of our counterpart? How do I know who I can actually trust, for example, to be honest, professional, and reliable?
Here intervenes, according to Armstrong, an element that could mark a crucial step forward in the crypto world: on-chain reputation and the ability to measure it.
How can we do this? We could think, for example, of creating a protocol on blockchain that could assign a score to each wallet address or ENS name and measure, through this score, the quality and reliability of each activity performed on-chain by individual users, protocols, and auditors.
Such a mechanism would make it possible to manage a very wide range of services on the blockchain, primarily financial services (DeFi), in an even more transparent and tracked way, and to be able to verify the evaluation of services and products at any time, thus preventing fraud, abuse, and misappropriation. Sounds good to us, whether you’re shopping online, playing at a casino, or just investing!
Advertising on-chain
The dynamics and tools of Web3 make it possible to imagine new business models for digital advertising as well.
Putting aside the traditional CPC (Cost Per Click) mechanism, which involves payment every time someone clicks on an ad, it now becomes possible to implement logic based on CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) – that is, payment only in the event that someone makes a transaction or purchase.
Imagine uploading and then certifying on-chain the data of your ad campaign: it becomes possible to track its performance, past and present, at any time and in a certain and transparent way, and to verify how much it has actually converted.
As a concrete example, Brian invites you to imagine what would happen if each smart contract could show some metadata about how much you need to pay to refer users to a certain action.
If all the smart contracts created with these features were registered and indexed, a list of available ads would be created, and popular wallets and DApps could, for example, choose which ads or referral links to direct requests to, and share in the profits when they generate users and induce them to take certain actions.
Employment Market
The advent of Web3, combined with the processes of globalization and digitization, could mark the rise of completely new logic in the labor market.
After the fall of geographic boundaries and the barrier represented by the difficulty of making payments across national borders, it now becomes possible to access a freer and more global system, in which companies have digital tools that allow them to manage the work, and improve efficiency and elasticity. For example, this could be done by posting online the tasks to be accomplished, with pay in cryptocurrencies for those who perform them, and professionals accessing job offers from all over the world, with more balanced and transparent consideration.
Disclaimer: This is a paid post and should not be treated as news/advice.
