Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has shared three “huge” opportunities yet to be realized in crypto: mass wallet adoption, inflation-resistant stablecoins and Ethereum-powered website logins.
During an interview with Bankless co-owner David Hoffman, Buterin shared his outlook for the crypto industry in 2023, responding to Hoffman’s raised concern that the “adoption wave” for decentralized applications is now over and that there’s “less opportunity” for developers to come in and build new decentralized applications.
Buterin instead shrugged off the “limbo period” that Hoffman eluded to, firstly suggesting that more developments need to be made on wallet infrastructure to make crypto easier for everyday people to use and ensure that it is capable of onboarding billions of users.
“If you can make a wallet that a billion people will use — that’s a huge opportunity,” the Ethereum co-founder said.
Secondly, Buterin said that the creation of a hyperinflation-resistant and globally accessible stablecoin that can withstand all types of conditions — both on-chain and in the broader macroeconomy — would be revolutionary for the industry:
“If you can make a stablecoin that can actually survive anything up to, and including, a U.S. dollar hyperinflation […] that’s a huge opportunity as well if you can create something that will feel like a lifeline for everyone going through that situation.”
Buterin, thougdidn’t offer any technical suggestions as to how this could be achieved.
Lastly, Buterin said any technical developments that contribute toward Ethereum taking login powers away from Facebook, Google, Twitter and other centralized monopolies would ultimately enable Ethereum to capture more market dominance on internet-based applications:
“If you can get signed in with Ethereum to work and if you can unseat Facebook and Google and Twitter as the login overlords of the internet, that itself is a huge opportunity, right?”
Buterin did however state that the opportunity to fill market gaps was becoming less obvious due to increasing competition and the maturation of the market.
Related: What are DApps? Everything there is to know about decentralized applications
Ethereum’s co-founder appears to have spent the last few weeks sharing his learnings and advice for the crypto space, including his optimism about the years ahead for the industry.
Buterin stated on Dec. 5 that blockchain-based identity, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and hybrid applications also excite him about the future of Ethereum and decentralized technologies.
A few days earlier, on Dec. 3, the Ethereum co-founder iterated the importance for traders to take a long-term view by focusing more on technical developments rather than onprice.
Following the collapse of FTX, Buterin advised traders and investors on Nov. 21 to consider the level of human influence that can be exerted over a protocol and to put more trust in open and transparent code than humans.
