have many puzzles, but they are beginning to reveal their secrets. The last few months of chaos show what bitcoin and other crypto assets are good for: they are advanced tools of globalisation, luxury goods for complex, well-functioning markets — not protections against the depredations of hostile governments.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine likely has increased the chance of a wider war, perhaps including nuclear weapons. Yet this too has not operated to the advantage of crypto. Or consider DeFi, or decentralised finance. The real potential for DeFi is to lend across great distances, for instance sending funds to the most talented entrepreneurs in Africa or Southeast Asia, or for that matter Russia and Ukraine. As with the metaverse, that too is unrealised potential, but it has been and remains a possibility.