In 2024, as global markets wrestled with inflation, persistent supply-chain disruptions, and banking instability triggered by lingering post-pandemic aftershocks, cryptocurrency adoption surged by 34%, pressing central banks, policymakers, and financial institutions to confront an uncomfortable truth: our traditional understanding of what constitutes “value” is being fundamentally challenged.
With over $1 trillion now locked in digital assets and 420 million crypto users worldwide, we are witnessing the first true reimagining of value since the abolition of the gold standard in 1971. The rise of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other decentralized assets calls into question the foundations of global commerce — prompting a $100 trillion question about the structure and stability of the world’s economy in the decades to come.
As a senior software engineer who has architected distributed systems at Apple, Meta, and Roku, I’ve had a front-row seat to this transformation. When El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, it was not only a bold policy decision but a signal to the world that the frameworks we use to measure, store, and transfer value are shifting.
Today, as 114 countries actively explore Central Bank Digital Currencies…
