Why Everyone Hates Crypto—And How We Fix It

Crypto was meant to be revolutionary, but it’s seen as a scam. Can we fix it?

It’s surprising how little crypto impacts life outside of our crypto communities.

Unless you actively try to engage with crypto, you can easily go about your daily life with minimal exposure to crypto.

The problem, though, is when that “minimal exposure to crypto” reaches people, it’s almost always negative.

You watch Netflix’s "Squid Game” and a crypto influencer who scammed followers appears. He can’t spend a minute without checking crypto prices and demands his phone back. On that part, I can relate :(

And when you scroll through news you’ll see the following (almost always negative) headlines:

• North Korea steals $1.5bn as it pulls off world’s biggest ever heist

• A mockery': Trump's new meme-coin sparks anger in crypto world

• Man charged after woman lost £154k in Bitcoin scam

• Crypto trader commits suicide on livestream

Scams, frauds, pumps & dumps. You name it. Crypto has a terrible public image. To be fair, even us, crypto natives know that crypto is full of shit.

But we also know why we are here: to get rich while revolutionizing the outdated financial system. Yes, the getting-rich (fast) part is why we’re often disliked but it’s truth I can’t deny. Everyone who invest in anything wants to earn money.

However, crypto is one of the few industries where amassing wealth from nothing is still possible. In today's economy, achieving wealth slowly on a median salary is incredibly challenging. Gen Z realizing it (quietly) opts out of the job market.

Only if they knew what crypto can bring to their lives…

Yet I believe crypto does terrible job emphasizing our mission, why crypto is needed, and why getting rich with crypto isn’t evil. The below top comment on FT summarize crypto skeptics’ view:

If you read Reddit, you’ll know how normies dislike crypto, but I’d love to see more positive image of crypto in mainstream media.

To be fair, Financial Times was always sceptic on crypto, but coverage on Bloomberg has improved over the years with great insights.

Funny enough, there’s an innocent looking Bloomberg article “Meet Seven of America’s Top Personal Finance Influencers” featuring a crypto influencer.

He mostly focuses on memecoins and shills his memecoin Telegram group, so while I’m happy Bloomberg wanted to include crypto, I’m surprised that they shared HIM!

@cryptomasunHow to easily find AND buy Solana memecoins 🤝 Beginner crypto tutorial!

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Yes, People Really Hate Us

Since this is still a “Research” blog, here are a few notable research data on crypto sentiment.

Many surveys show that non-investors view crypto as risky speculation rather than legitimate finance.

In the UK, 64% of surveyed consumers who are aware of crypto believe that “investing in it is basically gambling.”

“Attitudes towards investing in cryptocurrencies”

A 2024 Pew survey found 75% of Americans do not trust its reliability or safety due to scams and market volatility​.

In Edelman’s 2023 global survey, crypto was distrusted by every demographic segment. The nail in the coffin was lower trust than banks that we are supposed to revolutionize.

Sure, FTX damaged crypto reputation in 2023, but memecoins aren’t helping us this year either.

Consensys does amazing yearly research reports, and their 2024 report shows the decline of crypto “future of money” narrative. Speculation, scams and phishing, crime and money laundering sentiments are as popular as crypto “alternative to tradfi.”

The message is clear: outside the crypto community, people broadly question whether digital assets can be trusted as a safe financial tool.

While writing this blog I saw this tweet below which summarizes nicely the public sentiment on crypto:

Why Crypto Culture Matters

Our public image might seem unimportant because the general public just "doesn't get it." They fear being saved from the 9-to-5 rat race, influenced by mainstream media's propaganda against crypto.

Still, perception has somewhat changed and more people are willing to buy crypto than in the past. I believe that the changing crypto perception can add millions of new community members.

I believe we can and should do much better. We need to make people believe the vision and mission of crypto.

Crypto envisions a decentralized financial system where individuals have full control over their assets, free from intermediaries like banks or governments. It aims to create a borderless, censorship-resistant, and trust-minimized ecosystem where anyone can transact, store value, and build economic systems without relying on centralized authorities.

Our vision is being drowned out by the noise of memecoins and speculation.

Even worse, the general public no longer sees crypto as a revolutionary way to improve the financial system. As the post below notes, "The Bitcoin ecosystem has become identical to what you all despise." Money and power concentrated in a few hands to extract wealth from financially desperate people.

On top, due to Trump's open embrace, people now associate crypto with the MAGA movement, which is unpopular outside its own circles. Unsurprisingly, the EU views Trump's support for crypto as a threat to Europe's monetary sovereignty.

Don't get me wrong—halting regulatory oversight by the previous U.S. regime is bullish. However, the crypto industry is walking a tightrope with the current Trump administration.

How to Change Crypto’s Perception and Make It More Open and Fair

Crypto’s reputation won’t fix itself. If we want mainstream adoption, we need to reshape the narrative.

Easier said than done but it has to start from within: Even crypto natives are losing hope in crypto.

I think there are three key points we need to focus first:

1. Make Crypto Great Again

In previous cycles, newcomers to crypto could make money. However, the perverse exploitation of memecoins by cabals and VC-backed low-float, high-FDV launches leaves no upside for new entrants.

We managed to boycott low-float, high FDV this cycle just to fall into memecoin cabal traps.

Legion and Echo are making progress by adopting fairer funding models, but they remain too exclusive. We need to create and promote games that create value rather than destroy it, allowing early entrants to benefit together.

A more detailed plan how to reemerge stronger from this market chaos is offered by Kyle following “First principles.”

But due to extreme short-termism, maximally extractive culture & low-integrity people, we have descended to this ouroboros of perpetual financial nihilism that was sort of collectively self-inflicted when everyone decided it was a good idea to keep apeing into random scammers coins because "I will get out before he scams".

Click the picture to read full article on X

We need to self-police bad actors. The industry must do more to expose scams and hold influencers accountable for misleading promotion. ZachXBT used to do it, but the level of crime got way out of hand so even him ended up dumping a memecoin sent to him.

I need to do better job at this myself and distance myself from value extractive activities. People need to actually make money while growing the crypto pie.

Now, newcomers end up getting financially rekt. Or worse.

2. Shift the Narrative from Speculation to Utility

Crypto isn't just about gambling—it offers real-world benefits.

We need to focus on use cases such as remittances, financial inclusion, and transparent governance rather than the memecoin culture.

DeFi is expanding, and new social networks are emerging with innovative monetization models like Lens, Abstract, and Farcaster. On top, the increased adoption of stablecoins and RWA helps preserve and grow wealth rather than destroy it.

KOLs on on X might not care about it but crypto X represents only a small segment of the broader crypto culture.

I’m happy that Bitcoin is performing OK as 'digital gold,' but Ethereum and Solana are viewed as speculative chains instead of foundational platforms for open digital economies.

And if we promote memecoins as crypto culture, I bet on Pudgy Penguins as the strongest Web3 export to Web2 vs. memecoin imports from the Web2 (Doge, Pepe etc.)

3. Reclaim the Bitcoin and Ethereum Narratives

Crypto is not a single unified culture; rather, it encompasses multiple subcultures. The most notable among these are Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The perception that Bitcoin has "become everything it was meant to destroy" annoys me. Only those who hold BTC in cold storage truly understand the peace of mind that comes from self-custody and being outside the system.

ETFs are good for our bags, but they are a double-edged sword since ETF buyers will not experience the same sense of freedom self-custody brings.

I also wish Bitcoin managed to distance itself from the MAGA movement. Bitcoin is global and should be neutral.

This is why I like Ethereum. Many criticize Ethereum Foundation for failing to get close to the Trump team, but it will prove a winning strategy in the long-run.

In a world where privacy and democracy are eroding, where AI blurs the lines between reality and illusion, and digital ownership isn't guaranteed, Ethereum offers a safe haven for escape.

Ethereum is unapologetically:

• Credibly neutral

• Apolitical

• Decentralized

• Global

People outside of crypto don’t know about it so it’s our job to spread the message and built products that actually showcase Ethereum’s values.

Optimistic Future

So total cryptocoin market cap just hit $2.7T today. But have we *earned* it?

Since this post by Vitalik in 2017, crypto has evolved and not all is speculation and negative games.

As I wrote in my previous thread, 1.4B people globally are unbanked. Even in the US, it's 4.5%. Study by the Fed itself found that high-income individuals treat crypto as investment, but poorer use for transactions. 60% of those using it for transactions earn less than $50,000, and 13% don't have a bank account.

Venezuela ranked 40th in the 2023 Chainalysis Crypto Adoption Index. Stablecoins are a lifeline against crippling inflation. Similar to Argentina, stablecoin purchases soar as their national currency dumps - a sign of widespread adoption of crypto.

It's not just inflation, but crypto is also used to resist the oppressive regimes. During Covid, crypto was used to direct aid to doctors and nurses in Venezuela without interference from the corrupt regime. And Ukraine raised $225M in crypto donations when the war started.

TVL in DeFi stands at $88B! DEXes are now challenging CEXes, Maker & others are bringing RWAs onchain.

And non-speculative decentralized social apps are also growing in adoption. Farcaster and Polymarket have thousands of daily users and numbers are growing. We now have real dApps to use.

But all of this progress feels lost on X timeline and we’re are terrible at spreading this mission.

Still, I believe this market dump as I’m typing it will help crypto industry heal and progress will continue. We need to clean our mess first and focus on exporting positive side of crypto.