- Ethereum plans to innovate beyond DeFi with potential base layer for decentralized social media.
- Elon Musk confirmed to own ETH during a discussion with Jack Dorsey and Cathie Wood.
- Evolving possibilities of DeFi to attract more attention from regulators could lead to financial instability.
Founder Vitalik Buterin is considering decentralization and building applications that go beyond DeFi using Ethereum. The smart contracts leader prepares to move on from DeFi to create value and utility rather than driving profits for creators.
Ethereum to focus on applications outside of DeFi
Ethereum’s creator, Vitalik Buterin, has plans to shift the altcoin’s focus from profit-centric applications to projects that impact society. One such move is creating decentralized social media applications like Twitter and Facebook on the Ethereum Network.
Buterin referenced a tweet by Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of open-source DeFi protocol Aave.
Since @jack is going to build Aave on Bitcoin, Aave should build Twitter on Ethereum
— stani.eth =(⬤_⬤)= (@StaniKulechov) July 17, 2021
Kulechov’s plan to bring decentralized Twitter to Ethereum may not be entirely set in stone, but the involvement of team members suggests that the groundwork is on. Building social media on the Ethereum network is a project that Buterin cares about since the list of problems plaguing centralized social media is a long one.
From arbitrary censorship and manipulation to social engagement favored by centralized providers and misaligned with quality, there are numerous concerns with existing social media. Spreading misinformation and promoting content through multiple accounts or spam is common on centralized social media.
The Ethereum founder emphasized that the Ethereum community needs to work on issues that plague centralized services and create viable options to combat them. In his talk at ETH cc Paris, the largest and most talked-about annual Ethereum non-profit event in Europe, he argued that using Ethereum as a decentralized login service could give users more control of their identities. Buterin proposed that social recovery wallets could be used to recover lost or stolen addresses as an alternative to the centralized process for recovery.
Vitalik remarked,
Ethereum accounts that are social recovery wallets potentially can outcompete the centralized providers and the decentralized providers on both fronts. So you have both better self-sovereignty and better recovery.
Despite Buterin’s large vision for the Ethereum network, it currently hosts over 96% of DeFi. ETH powers the lending protocols, staking tokens, and liquidity mining projects of DeFi that are key to attracting more users to Ethereum. Recognizing this explosive growth, Buterin asserted the need to expand beyond it and reinvent social media.
Buterin warned of the financial instability that may arise from projects that build layer upon layer on the ETH network and stack profits “to infinity.” He remarked that there is a risk that this whole thing will collapse and potentially get a couple of regulators angry. At the same time, it will have a negative impact on the growth of the Ethereum network.
Elon Musk owns Ethereum, admits he is a fan of DeFi
Ethereum network’s growth through decentralized applications has garnered attention from analysts and investors in the past few years. In conversation with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood at ‘The B word’ conference, Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly stated that he owns Ethereum.
Musk confessed that he is a fan of decentralized finance and that it makes sense. Commenting on the price volatility that arises from his tweets, Musk said that he has something to gain by promoting Bitcoin since he is personally invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. If the price of these cryptocurrencies goes down, he loses money. He added,
I might pump, but I don’t dump.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.
If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet.
FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted.
The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
Ethereum has lost its “ultra” sound money status, faces key rectangle resistance hurdle
Ethereum is up 0.5% on Thursday following a recent analysis showing that the top altcoin lost its "ultra" sound money narrative. Meanwhile, ETH ETFs recorded net inflows for the first time after nine days of consecutive outflows.
Solana bears dominate market as SunPump has potentially led to less demand for SOL
Solana is down 2.5% on Thursday following bearish signals across its funding rate and total fees captured. SOL's weak performance could also be linked to the declining traction seen in its meme coin generation platform Pump.fun.
AI tokens see narrow gains as Wall Street banks raise price targets on NVDA
AI tokens NEAR, ICP, RENDER and TAO briefly traded in the green on Thursday following Wall Street banks' positivity toward Nvidia's earnings report. While a correction followed, these tokens could rally if NVDA meets expectations.
XRP back above $0.57 even as Ripple traders take $8 million in profits
Ripple (XRP) traders have consistently taken profits on their holdings in the last two weeks, per Santiment data. Once again, traders have grabbed $8.36 million in profit so far on Thursday. Typically, profit-taking negatively influences the asset as it increases the selling pressure.
Bitcoin: Will BTC continue its ongoing decline?
Bitcoin (BTC) trades above $59,000 on Friday, but it has lost 7.5% this week so far after being rejected around the daily resistance of $65,000. The decline is supported by lower demand from the US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which registered a net outflow of $103.8 million, falling Bitcoin's Coinbase Premium Index, and a spike in Network Realized Profit/Loss. However, some investors seem to be taking the chance to buy BTC amid this price dip, as shown by the Exchange Netflow data.
Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know
VERIFIED In this review, the FXStreet team provides an independent and thorough analysis based on direct testing and real experiences with Moneta Markets – an excellent broker for novice to intermediate forex traders who want to broaden their knowledge base.