The People of Crypto

A look at the people in blockchain from an anthropological perspective

For those who don’t know, my academic background was in cultural anthropology. In particular, I studied and wrote about communities on the internet formed around commonalities - things like fan groups for TV shows, Trekkies, anime fans, collectors of teaspoons, and travel communities like Couchsurfing. I’ve been watching digital money, cypherpunk communities, protest communities, and crypto since the early 2000s. I’ve written about a lot of these topics in other places but I think it is interesting at this point in time to share my breakdown of the current group of people in crypto.

I’ve summarized my findings into six groups that I think form the basis of all crypto communities at this particular point in time. For those interested, I’ll break down where I see myself and the projects I’m involved in at the end of the article.

The bullshit and shenanigans in 'Web3' only become obvious when you look at who we are talking about.

1) Crypto OGs - hackers, cypherpunks, libertarian anarchists, anarcho-capitalists. Generally range from young boomers- through GENX - to older Millenials. Deeply suspicious of government, banks, power. Remember fondly reading newspapers, zines, and the early days of the internet. Entered crypto early - pre-2017 - for the revolution.

2) ICO-OGs - tech bros, gamers, pick-up artists, start-up founders, 4chan nerds - ethically challenging people. Generally range from younger GenX through millennials. Entered around the time ETH and ICO's popped off (2017-2019)- not so much for the revolution as for the memes and the disruption for fun.

3) NFT-OGs. Artists, musicians, writers, builders. Creatives who were centered in tech culture enough to see the possibility of change and the opportunity for making money and forming communities with creativity in the space. Quickly formed communities and strong bonds. Entered in the period after ICOs went bust but before NFTs took off and became 'easy money' (2018-2020). Same age range as crypto-OGs, big overlap. Projects like Crypto Punks and BAYC were born from these communities.

4) Degen-OGs. Strictly in it for the money. Gambling addicts, substance abuse issues, hedge fund quants, bankers, lawyers, doctors, social media influencers, autists, people who feel left out and forgotten, MAGA people. Big overlap with ICO-OGs. 'Winning is the only rule'. Entered as soon as easy money in NFTs, Defi summer, meme stock mania, and covid stimulus money boosted the system (2021-2023). Lots of brain power here with little to no social conscience - age range from teens to early retirees.

5) Whales - Professional money makers, state actors, organized criminal activity. These are different from the Degen-OGs because their level of skill and resources makes the game they are playing an unfair one. Like slot machine odds, they allow just enough winning to keep the casino running while taking as much off the top as they can. Market manipulation, organized fraud, and theft. They work in the shadows but you never know who they are or form a connection with them. The biggest whales - often disguised through use of hundreds of wallets.

6) Normies - Everyone else. This is the money that keeps the casino running. Just enough winning to hopefully form an addiction. Currently, there are far fewer of these folks in the space than there have been since 2022. Most have been pushed out by loss, common sense, or seeing the space for what it is - a fixed casino.

The Whales have eaten as much as they can and there isn't actually much left. New games are being created (ordinals, Blast, Blur, airdrops, farming, points) but they have not brought in new normies. The result is that a cannibalistic feeding frenzy has been created. Crypto-OGs have mostly withdrawn to safe wallets, creatives have mostly had to go find work, and that leaves the rest to feed on each other with the whales occasionally coming in and skimming all the cream from the top.

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So, where do I fit? I’m a crypto-OG (first wallet was in 2010 but never funded it). I didn’t invest because I was too busy watching it all unfold and thought it would end up being something else entirely. I actually entered during the ICO-OG phase but never felt a strong alignment with any community besides Litecoin and Digibyte - both of which predate the ICO-OGs by a long margin. I became much more deeply involved during the NFT-OG phase because I am a creative and I saw the opportunity to turn society on its ear by empowering artists and writers with huge amounts of money. I’ve been building ever since - this was the point of the Baldism community, Vagobond Magazine, and my association with projects like Readl, Creatokia, and PageDAO.

I was excited and happy about the money flowing into the space in 2021 as the Degen-OG phase began but I quickly soured on it as I saw what I consider to be the worst parts of modern capitalistic society begin to profit the most - un ethical influencers, scammers, and con-artists. I went from excited by the revolution of disrupting everything from Disney to the Constitution to become disgusted and depressed as project after project rugged and trusted founder after trusted founder revealed themselves to be merciless to the people who believed in them. I’m still involved with some NFT projects that I think have long term viability (OCM, YUGA) or that I’m so badly down on that I can’t bring myself to sell (Pixel Vault, Cool Cats).

It took me a long time to recognize the power and movements of the whales in this space but once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It is a completely manipulated space - you can make money in it, but the odds (just like on a slot machine) are stacked against you.

I still believe that the tech provides an amazing opportunity for societal change and that’s why I’m still here - plus - the occasional infusion of free money or win on the slot machine. Increasingly you can find me on Farcaster/Warpcast which seems to have become a sort of refuge for creatives and builders in the space. I invite you to join me there and engage in discussion. https://warpcast.com/~/invite-page/11286?id=ef691b56