On the wall in Ruar Street Food, a burger joint in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood of Barcelona, there is a framed drawing of a male hand holding u
Some of the crypto faithful see an upside to the wipeout of 2022. To them it was like a four-keg frat party that the cops busted. Those still standing are proud to say that they weren't distracted by the revelry.“Now more than ever we're encouraged that we are doing the right thing by just believing in the fundamentals of crypto,” said Elion Chin, co-creator of Nimiq, an open-source payment system that allows users to hold and spend crypto right from their web browsers. Like thousands of ventures, Nimiq has also issued a coin, which is down 92 per cent from its high in 2021.
Yet none of its 27“full-time contributors” have left.“Money is very important, but that's not necessarily the full and only reward our contributors are getting here,” Chin said on a phone call from Costa Rica.“They're working with people they enjoy working with, on something they believe can make a difference.”
This is a common refrain. While crypto has been associated with quick riches, good luck finding people who will say they are sticking it out for a payday. Instead, there's a lot of earnest talk about the ways that blockchain will transform the world - helping to solve climate change, streamlining supply chains, even reshaping work in a way that lets more people find jobs they enjoy. (Because the blockchain can handle all sorts of drudgery.).
There is also lot of talk about agitating to free incarcerated heroes of the cyber world. The crypto catechism has an anti-government, libertarian streak that quickly surfaces over cocktails. Among the giveaways tonight is a T-shirt reading“Free Alex Pertsev,” who is in jail in the Netherlands, facing charges of money laundering. He is the developer of Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer that has been sanctioned by the US Treasury.
