Why the Media Loves the Worst of Crypto

The fixation on the least reputable aspects of the industry obscures the real progress being made in areas like DePIN, stablecoins and DeFi, says Mahesh Ramakrishnan.

The crypto industry has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the past year. From the collapse of major exchanges like FTX to the rise of new and innovative use cases like decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), there’s been no shortage of talking points. However, the mainstream media’s coverage of these developments has left much to be desired.

While some media outlets have highlighted the promising applications of crypto in facilitating digital transactions and supporting an internet-native financial system, others have remained fixated on the least reputable aspects of the industry, like memecoins and the antics of crypto influencers. This narrow focus on the extremes obscures the substantial progress being made in other areas.

For instance, stablecoins, which link digital assets to fiat currencies, are reaching new adoption milestones, especially in emerging markets with unstable local currencies. These stables are being used to preserve purchasing power and facilitate remittances at a scale that’s hard to ignore.

Another promising development is decentralized finance (DeFi), which allows users to lend, borrow and trade assets directly, bypassing traditional financial intermediaries. In countries with limited access to banking, DeFi presents a significant opportunity for financial inclusion. Even in a world that's radically reconsidering trade and dollarization, these primitives offer a neutral ground to transact, furthering use and proliferation of the dollar.

However, not all crypto projects have clear value. Memecoins, which derive their worth from internet attention rather than tangible use, are a contentious topic even within crypto circles. For example, dogecoin, a favorite of Elon Musk, has a market value that surpasses 94% of companies in the S&P 500, despite lacking a product or business model. Recently, Chris Dixon, of Andreessen Horowitz, even criticized memecoins for hindering understanding of the broader industry’s utility. If one were looking for a reason to argue that crypto is a scam, you could find it in some corners of the memecoin world.

But following Sam Bankman-Fried's ignominious fall, another new primitive is using crypto rails to rebuild the tangible world: decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). These networks allow individuals to contribute resources – like data or connectivity – in exchange for rewards. By crowdsourcing infrastructure, DePIN projects can compete with large incumbents, offering cheaper and more accessible services.

The Atlantic has already called the term DePIN (which was coined by an analyst at Messari) “boring.” However, these networks are already changing the market structure of legacy industries. Today, there are over 1,400 DePIN projects building, having raised more than $1 billion in venture funding. But if you relied solely on the Atlantic and Elizabeth Warren’s Twitter feed, you’d still think the industry is fraudulent.

One prominent example is Helium, a network that crowdsources mini-tower and hotspot deployment to create a decentralized mobile coverage network. With over 120,000 active mobile plans in service, Helium provides affordable connectivity by pushing operating costs to the edges of the network. But you could also find reporting calling Helium a scam and declaring it a failure after its token price fell by 90% in 2022.

This completely misses how Helium's business has transformed into a cellular provider from an IoT network. The misunderstanding highlights how volatile token prices often overshadow real business developments. Crypto networks like Helium are frequently described as “antifragile,” adapting through volatility as extreme price swings fuel misleading narratives.

Perhaps this explains Trump’s affinity for crypto: both he and the crypto industry are often misrepresented or taken out of context. Like with MAGA, certain crypto actors become conflated with the whole industry, and those looking for something to blame find an easy scapegoat. It also explains why crypto-natives feel so misunderstood.

Yes, there is a cohort of crypto-owners that support anarchy, and others still that have abused this unregulated market for personal gain. As the failures of the end of last cycle pushed the mainstream media to pessimism, it makes sense that many believe that The Worst of Crypto is yet to come. But as real use-cases in stables, DeFi and DePIN continue to abound, it’s clear that the best of crypto is yet to come, too.