Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, recently discussed three "huge" opportunities in crypto that have yet to be realized: mass wallet adoption, inflation-resistant stablecoins, and Ethereum-enabled website logins.
Buterin responded to Hoffman's concern that the "adoption wave" for decentralized applications has now passed and that developers have fewer opportunities to build new decentralized applications in 2023 during an interview with Bankless co-owner David Hoffman, sharing his outlook for the crypto industry in 2023.
Rather than referring to the "limbo period," Buterin noted that more work needs to be done on wallet infrastructure in order to make crypto easier for everyday users to use and to ensure that it is able to onboard a billion people.
“If you can make a wallet that a billion people will use — that’s a huge opportunity,” the Ethereum co-founder said.
As a second point, Buterin said that creating a hyperinflation-resistant and globally accessible stablecoin, able to withstand all kinds of conditions - on-chain and in broader macroeconomic situations - would be revolutionary for the industry:
“If you can make a stablecoin that can actually survive anything up to, and including, a U.S. dollar hyperinflation [...] that’s a huge opportunity as well if you can create something that will feel like a lifeline for everyone going through that situation.”
However, Buterin did not suggest how this could be accomplished on a technical level.
As a final point, Buterin said that any technical developments that contribute toward Ethereum taking login powers away from Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other centralized monopolies would ultimately help Ethereum gain greater market dominance on internet-based applications:
“If you can get signed in with Ethereum to work and if you can unseat Facebook and Google and Twitter as the login overlords of the internet, that itself is a huge opportunity, right?”
Due to increased competition and the maturation of the market, Buterin did state that the opportunity to fill market gaps was becoming less evident.
Throughout the last few weeks, Ethereum's co-founder has shared his lessons learned and advice for the crypto space, including his optimism for the future.
On Dec. 5, Buterin stated that he is excited about the future of Ethereum due to blockchain-based identity, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and hybrid applications.
It was only a few days earlier, on Dec. 3, that the Ethereum co-founder emphasized the importance of traders taking a long-term view by focusing more on technical developments than on prices. However, Buterin advised traders and investors, following the collapse of FTX, to take into account the degree of human influence that can be exerted over a protocol and to trust open and transparent code more than humans.