Crypto’s killer use cases (and there are many)

Just thinking out loud about use cases… it’s a bit like water because once you’re in crypto, you just take the surrounding water for granted:

Stablecoins: Ability for anyone in the world to get, store, and send USD to anyone else (like USDC, USDT)

Bitcoin’s long-term store of value (measured against USD and gold)

Uncensored instant low cost global payments (ability to send eg, $10 or $1M to anyone anywhere for a 10 cent transaction fee)

Internet bonds: Ability to earn more of a token just by holding that token (like Ethereum or Solana staking)

Permissionless speculation with lower fees and potential for larger returns than traditional venues like casino games, penny stocks, and sports betting

Trade assets instantly and permissionlessly (including increasingly complex financial products like derivatives, interest rate products)

True digital asset ownership (self custody, no or fewer middlemen)

Permissionless prediction markets (Polymarket)

Unlimited self-custody bank accounts (self-custody wallet) that can be shared (using multi-sig), sold, transferred (via private key)

Borrow and lend money permissionlessly (like Aave, Compound)

Earn higher asset APYs than traditional options like money markets, high-yield savings accounts, and short-term bonds

Tokenization: ability to turn any digital asset (and increasingly, real-world assets too) into an instantly priced and tradable token (via AMM) that can access an ecosystem of onchain financial infra