What does it mean to have vision?
According to Merriam-Webster, vision is defined as, “the act of power of imagination.” When you apply vision to the future, you can create a mental picture that can be used to direct your actions. Vision serves as a guide and can be used to provide a sense of purpose.
Quote from an article on University of the People.
Vision for Business. Examples
Ok, that definition seems to be of personal use, but vision makes perfect sense when we apply it to businesses, being an inspirational guideline useful when setting targets for the business, in order to bring it closer to accomplishing the vision.
Can we extend the same concept of vision when we talk about an entire industry or sector?
When we think about what is going on in recent years in the auto industry, it might appear true, as everyone embarked on embracing the EV solution.
But is EV a vision? When you compare it to ICE, yes, it can be a direction to follow. But when everyone starts producing EVs, then the vision needs to be better defined, and often, I imagine, not similar among all the producers of EVs.
The target customer will differ, the technology used and means to reach it will differ, the purpose of the car will vary and so on.
Let's take a different example, of two companies from the tech sector. Does Apple have the same vision as Samsung, even if we only talk about mobile phones, not everything else? I don't think so.
In e-commerce. does Amazon have the same vision as Alibaba? Again, I doubt it.
Vision in the Crypto World
In the cryptocurrency world we sometimes have an idealistic view that everyone is pulling in the same direction, or at least the critical directions coincide in a common vision.
Let's see if that holds true.
Focus on the Masses or Elites?
We keep hearing words like "mass adoption" or at least "more adoption" associated with the crypto world desires. But here we see serious differences between approaches taken within the space.
Some take steps in assuring their platforms are affordable to the masses, while others are in the opposite situation, where fees makes them more suitable for financial elites. Ethereum is in the latter category, being considered for a while a whale chain.
Bitcoin may follow suite, if the fees keep rising, and it would be terrible if the top two blockchains by market cap become inaccessible for peer-to-peer transactions for regular users.
Fortunately, there are still options where regular users are welcomed.
But no option is perfect. Hive has a good degree of decentralization on the base layer, human-readable wallets/usernames, it is fast and one can say it has no fees (resource credits are a regenerable fee), but it has a steep learning curve and bottlenecked onboarding.
Other blockchains may also have low fees and maybe even better onboarding, but they can suffer of centralization at the base layer.
Type of Users Attracted
Some blockchains and applications focus only on users interested in financial operations. And here we have different situations. Some just want to make peer-to-peer transactions, other want to make investments, like to participate in the defi space.
Other applications focus on a mix of entertainment and earning (blockchain games).
Fewer projects in the crypto space add the social media aspect to the mix. Hive is one of the only blockchains where this is still successfully done.
There is often not a clear distinction, as on most blockchains there are applications with different focuses. Not all of them can be qualified as visions, but still, there is something to start from.
Decentralized or Centralized?
As much as decentralization is important in the crypto world, it became a buzz word too, with few blockchains really caring about it, and making it part of their vision.
It is also a range, not something as clear as black and white. Coming from different perspectives or with different arguments, two persons can talk about the same thing and say that is either decentralized or centralized.
The only question is if the respective blockchain is decentralized enough for the aspects that matter to them.
Normally, decentralization is really important at the base layer, where the security of the blockchain lies. Second layer can be either decentralized or centralized as long as there is sufficient decentralization at the base layer.
But this should be judged from case to case, as there isn't a universal formula.
Private versus Public Blockchain, Privacy Coins
Then we have private and public blockchains that obviously have different visions.
Usually private blockchains are the creation of entities from outside the cryptosphere who joined this game but want to retain control.
Traceability of transactions is something where visions can separate. Privacy coins have the role to assure transactions or at least the source and destination of them remain anonymous.
Role to Play
Everyone has a role to play in the crypto sphere and abroad it. It is important what role you envision for your protocol, project, application, etc.
Some want to be gateways between the crypto and the fiat world. As such, they will always be scrutinized by the government and probably working with them on different matters. They will probably be regulated too, most of them, who want to operate legally in various jurisdictions.
Others want to be gateways but also big influential organizations inside the crypto space. They will have to go through the same hoops as the simple gateways, and probably more.
We also have in the crypto space networks where growing intercommunication among the individual ecosystems is the vision.
Other projects will have the objective to rise and shine, until someone with deep pockets buys them. It doesn't matter if that someone is from the crypto world or from the outside. Or maybe to some it does, but I doubt it, in this case.
Some probably want to become the go-to options to contact when you want to launch a similar project in the crypto space. May provide the platform where to launch those projects too. Sounds familiar? :)
Some continue to think in terms of improving and protecting the technology and the accomplishments already made, bringing more users to the space, making things better for everyone (or sometimes just for those in need), etc. So great these people still exist and they aren't tired yet!
We have the gamblers, and they are many more than we would care to admit. They treat the crypto space like a casino and probably lose as much as addicts do in those places.
We also have what I would call the middle class (or aspiring middle class) in crypto. They often treat it seriously and have a growth-oriented mindset.
Then, we have a good chunk of people who may or may not believe in cryptocurrencies right now, but it's a way to earn or to try something new, which is more than the options they have.
And finally, we have the scammers, rug pullers, hackers. who would use any opportunity to steal from another human being (and not only!), cryptocurrency just happens to be the means they use in this case.
Final Words
Once you start analyzing, the cryptocurrency space is as diverse as the real world. And while common directions may be followed by various parts of the crypto sphere, when you dig deep enough through the tiers you see in the end everyone has a different vision, if they have one at all.