On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz agreed to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for two delivered Papa John’s pizzas, essentially the first use case of a cryptocurrency. On July 30, 2015, Ethereum was launched as the first broadly using application-layer blockchain, allowing for the creation of decentralized applications, cryptocurrency tokens and non-fungible tokens. In 2021, progress has been towards bringing digital currencies into mass adoption. Out of the over 11,800 digital currencies listed on CoinMarketCap, few have built a genuinely usable ecosystem that brings value to its users. The Difficulties with Utility There have been numerous issues with digital currency projects and how much utility they bring to their users. These fall into three major categories: Centralization: Some are centralized with a single leader or company driving the project’s development, making it seem more like a corporation than a decentralized digital currency. Prohibitive Fees: This is most obvious in the NFT space, where creators have recently been forced to pay $50, even $100, to mint an NFT. This is not a user experience that makes it easy for new artists to start using NFTs as their medium. Sustainable Incentive System: While many projects encourage their faithful participants to “HODL”, the volatility of cryptocurrency decreases the benefits to do so unless a system is in place to reward holders through staking. Additionally, crea...
