It wasn’t until late 2017 when we went all in on Web3, joining a crypto payments startup that sought to level the playing field for business operators that were fighting tooth and nail with the banks for a fair go. We got to go around the world giving talks and running workshops, while Leah wrote red pill-styled opinion pieces on everything from peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and crypto-asset backed remittance to decentralized identity and reputation. But, OMG, the education effort was a hard slog. Yes, of course, people would nod emphatically as we told them they could be their own bank, and transact permissionlessly — yada yada yada — but only a small number actually converted. Even then, they were more likely to buy on a local, licensed CEX and HODL, rather than self custody and go off exploring the decentralized ecosystem.
