Is Crypto Just Survival of the Wealthiest?

Where does crypto go from here? This year brought the collapse of FTX and the Terra ecosystem — two crashes that wiped out tens of billions of dollars of value each — and the contagion isn't done spreading yet.

It's easy to get disheartened by both. But what does Erik Voorhees, crypto pioneer and founder of the decentralized exchange ShapeShift, think we should do next?

Voorhees sees the central problem as the unchecked power of centralized institutions in the crypto economy. So, moving forward with crypto, investors should be more wary of custodial exchanges and anyone pushing the narrative that they're too big to fail.

"You can trust the code and you should stop trying to trust people. And just because several heroes have been shown as villains doesn't mean we should go and look for new heroes," said Voorhees.

Voorhees is one of the most ideologically-driven crypto philosophers out there. Instead of being motivated by immense profit, social status, or political power, Voorhees continues to build in crypto out of a single-minded desire to separate money and state the same way church and stay were once split, he says.

When asked whether Voorhees was nervous about incoming crypto legislation, Voorhees advised crypto users to explain to elected officials just why this system can be so special.

"If you care about an ordered and transparent financial system, you should love this stuff," said Voorhees. "It's not for Lambos, as fun as those are ... it's to change finance by making it more honest and open for the whole world."

For more of Voorhees' thoughts on the biggest threats to crypto, why he's not afraid of CZ and Binance, and why he thinks the FTX collapse is a sign of a healthy market, check out the Community Extra from Coinage Episode 6 above, or watch the full episode!