What’s on your mind? A year of crypto opinions

Over the past year, the crypto industry has seen its fair share of turmoil — from contentious crypto legislation to eyeball scanning coins to the conviction of one of crypto’s biggest fraudsters. You can bet that there are a lot of people who have had a lot of opinions about each and every blockbuster event (and some of the smaller ones, too).

With 2023 (almost) in the rear-view mirror, Blockworks’ opinion page has highlighted some of the best — that is, the most contentious, impassioned, absurd, etc. — takes on what went down in crypto in 2023.

Here’s our top-ten list:

10. Elizabeth Warren has a lot to say about crypto — try listening for once

Earlier this year, Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized crypto (again) and declared that she was building an “anti-crypto army.”

This think piece by one of her constituents, herself a mom, asks Warren to reconsider her treatment of an industry that has been a safe haven for those excluded from other parts of the workforce.

In all of the Sam Bankman-Fried coverage, no one thought to compare the former FTX CEO’s antics to that of fame-hungry contestants on a reality show. But it seems like a reality show comparison of Bankman-Fried and the regulators, businessmen and politicians who fell in love with him is actually pretty apt.

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As the author writes, “Just because Congress fell in love with the wrong guy doesn’t mean they should give up on the prospect of legislating crypto towards a happier ending.”

8. You aren’t thinking hard enough about digital art

A digital, abstract rendering of a goose sold as an NFT for over $6 million at Sotheby’s this year. If you think that’s absurd, think about what one critic said of Claude Monet’s early work: “A preliminary drawing for a wallpaper pattern is more finished than this seascape.”

This op-ed asks the question — is it possible that we’re more like this critic than we realize?

7. No matter what happens with the SEC, Ripple has already won

With all the big crypto court cases this year, you may not remember one of the earliest — the SEC vs Ripple.

This op-ed explores how Ripple — arguably one of the crypto companies that the industry saw as the butt of the joke — has now become a heroic David defeating Goliath figure instead. The enemy of your enemy is indeed your friend.

6. Firearms before finance: The US educational system is failing teens like me

With our youngest op-ed writer of the year, this piece explores what it’s like to be a student in the American highschool system and learning how to shoot a gun — at the expense of learning anything about how to prepare for their financial futures.

5. If we want crypto to succeed, we’ve got to give X the boot

This year has seen our beloved Crypto Twitter turn into Crypto X.

And while some are on board with the switch, this op-ed takes the stance that crypto as a subculture needs to end its toxic reliance on X — if it’s ever going to move past the destruction left by Sam Bankman-Fried.

4. Raise your hand if you fully trust your bank

The beginning of this year saw the collapse of several smaller American banks, something previously almost unheard of.

When banks have all the power over access to your finances, isn’t it natural to look for an alternative in crypto?

3. DrainageDAO? What crypto can learn from a 4,000-year-old flood control system

This piece asks the question that you have all probably been thinking about: If Chinese townspeople 4,000 years ago could band together to create a sophisticated drainage system to save their lives from yearly floods, can’t we all get along on Discord?

2. I’m a crypto journalist, just please don’t tell anyone

For those of us who work in crypto, telling other people what you do can be difficult for a variety of reasons.

This op-ed touches on why it can sometimes feel so bad to be honest about your job, or even why you believe in the industry at all — and tells you that it’s ok.