As Sync wrapped up its collection below of the extended Bloq team’s hopes and aspirations for 2024, everyone understood that SEC approval of a Bitcoin ETF was going to be a fait accompli. Thus, few teammates bothered to mention it.
But could anyone have predicted everything that happened last week as the news struggled to fully emerge? The cryptocurrency ecosystem will most certainly be discussing this enormous — if perhaps somewhat ugly — win for the rest of this year at minimum.
In any event, we believe in looking forward and, thus, here we are. Here’s to a 2024 rich with both promise and expectations.
– Phil Gomes, CCMO, Bloq
Evolutionary Paths Converge
“Even in its first weeks, 2024 shows early signs of a year that will deliver a clear evolutionary path for two critical success factors (network convergence and regulatory clarity) which, in turn, will produce a third (increased mainstream adoption). This plays into Bloq’s strengths, as we have from our very beginning approached the cryptocurrency ecosystem from the big-picture standpoint of a network-of-networks. This is what major enterprises and emerging startups alike will looking for in selecting partners.”
– Jeff Garzik, Co-founder and CEO, Bloq
Better Infrastructure
“2024 will be a bright year for infrastructure in the blockchain space. Until cryptocurrency transfers are available at a fraction of a cent per transaction, users will be priced out from utilizing the new decentralized internet. Look out for Layer-2 solutions and novel Layer-1 blockchains tackling these problems, because that’s where the new wave of crypto users will arrive. Once a cheap transaction is available on the decentralized web, we’ll find developers and users alike flocking to interact with a new social and financial system.”
– Daniel Peter, Co-founder, Capsule Labs
Improved DeFi UX
“2023 was a landmark year for DeFi, marked by significant advancements in interoperability, Layer-2s, and increased adoption rates. Despite these achievements, we still faced common obstacles such as complex user interfaces and fragmented liquidity, alongside frequent security breaches. Looking ahead to 2024, I’m excited about the potential of ERC-4337 and Smart Wallets. These upgrades, although seemingly complex, promise a smoother experience in uniting assets and increasing security for all users.”
– Jordan Kruger, Head of DeFi, Bloq
Microwork as Catalyst
“The ongoing trend toward community incentive platforms (where users earn points for protocol-supporting activities) works out to be a very good win-win strategy for all involved. Projects may reward exactly the activities they would like their community to perform. Users don’t have to play guessing games — they know how to earn incentives. I hope that the projects who take advantage of this see success and the users who participate are duly rewarded. And as in past cycles, that this new innovation in microwork can catalyze another bull run.”
– Zane Huffman, Chief Strategy Officer, Bloq
Better Policy, Less Politics
“My usual hope for every year is better-educated policymakers. Also, I’d love crypto to become apolitical this year. The Bitcoin spot ETF approvals might help with this, but that is an entirely different conversation.”
– Dariusz Jakubowski, Head of Community, Planet Atmos
Web3 Gaming Becomes Just “Gaming”
“My hope and expectation is that ‘Web3 gaming’ will transition to just being ‘gaming’ as users cross the chasm and understand that games where they have true ownership is a better experience. We’re seeing this transition already — there is a higher bar for quality of gameplay in the market and there are more games that meet that bar that are due to release in 2024. As we head into the next bull run for blockchain assets, it is important to keep the mainstream users in mind as we build products to encourage adoption beyond crypto-native folks.”
– Kevin Beauregard, CEO & Co-founder, Planet Atmos
Mining = Freedom
“Bitcoin mining still feels like one of the last areas of true freedom in crypto, and to be honest I don’t think most regulators know what to do with it. My hope for 2024 and onward is for the continued protection and preservation of the mining ethos of freedom and anonymity. At Titan we have been spearheading the Lumerin project with this vision in mind — the ability to buy, sell, and control Bitcoin mining hashpower freely and anonymously from anywhere in the world.”
– Ryan Condron, CEO & Co-founder, Titan
The Next Wave of DeFi Users
“I’m looking forward to massive growth and onboarding in the 2024 blockchain space. As protocols and chains vie for more users and additional TVL, the need for increased UI and UX improvement is at the top of the requirement stack to help usher in the next group of users. At the protocol level, getting legal clarity and cryptocurrency adoption at national levels is a necessity to continue building out and being able to work with other entities in the tech and traditional finance spaces.”
– Jon Greenwood, Community Manager, Metronome