Crypto’s Existential Debate

By Keone Hon, CEO & Co-Founder, Monad Labs

Public, or private? Open, or cloistered? Shared, or kept? This dichotomy is as old as human history, even more so since when the internet began connecting the world. Today, this topic is the central debate in the world of blockchain. Will the network effects end up primarily on open, public networks, or will they mostly be on corporate chains, i.e. permissioned networks controlled by a single company?

This debate will be settled by user and builder adoption, but I can make a strong prediction now. Open networks will win. Open networks, where every builder may compete on a level playing field, are the best environment for the most ambitious builders.

Like how the internet was more powerful than the walled gardens of CompuServe or AOL, like how Wikipedia delivered a more useful product than Encarta, open networks are where the innovation that drives the space forward will happen. Blockchain growth is a network effect business, and open networks are best poised to cultivate real network effects.

The recent rise of corporate chains

Earlier this month, SWIFT announced that its blockchain-based ledger is ready for use. The Clearing House, owned by JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, and Wells Fargo, is building a competing tokenized deposit network of its own. Stripe has its own blockchain, as does Robinhood. So do a growing list of payment companies racing to put “blockchain” in the same sentence as their name.