Decentralization vs Efficiency

Crypto promises to transform human civilization in two ways: Decentralization of power and increase in efficiency.

Some are most excited about the first. They see a world where people are less controlled by big corporations and governments. Where they have more autonomy and privacy.

Others don't like this idea at all. They want to preserve the existing power structures. The corporates who pursued blockchain not cryptocurrency projects fall into that bucket. Regulators like the SEC think like that. But often they still see that crypto could lead to a lot of efficiency gains. They may like the technology or consider it inevitable. But they envision a world where governments have as much or more power, and crypto just makes for better plumbing underneath.

What is less clear is if you can even have the efficiency gains without decentralization of power. The corporate efforts to adopt blockchain technology have been underwhelming. Attempts to maintain control center around things like anti-money laundering or securities regulation. That causes friction, prevents innovation and will diminish the efficiency gains that crypto can bring.

In the end, I think crypto will lead to both decentralization of power and increases in efficiency and innovation. But in the next decade or so, there will be a huge push from governments and the Goldman Sachs' of the world to adopt crypto without losing any power.