Catching Up to Crypto

CHAPTER 13Brave New World: Beyond Bitcoin

Just as the Hubble telescope opened our eyes to the depth of space, and the James Webb telescope magnified the details, the cryptoverse is expanding at a huge rate – and entirely new classes of technologies are being born like gas clusters ready to progress to the next step of stardom. At the time of this writing there are over 20,000 crypto projects, and more are coming online every day.¹ Bitcoin may be the center of the universe, but it's important not to get tunnel vision. There are quality projects out there that you should be aware of. Many of them will be category‐defining businesses in the coming years.

I went over Ethereum and its place as a decentralized computer in the previous chapters, and you'll see that many of the projects are based on Ethereum. I've also covered true cryptocurrencies like XRP or XLM, and crypto assets like Bitcoin. But there is so much more to crypto. Let's adjust our focus and see what else is out there in the cryptoverse and how it relates to the future of crypto assets.

Stablecoins

On the surface a stablecoin is about as boring as they come, but don't let the word “stable” fool you. Stablecoins are the oil in the engine of crypto – as well as one of the most hotly regulated, scrutinized, valuable, and divisive technologies in all crypto.² Before we get into the drama, I'll set the scene.

All stablecoins serve one purpose: to be pegged to the value of another asset. They have lots of names, like ...