Why Musk and Altman both want to revive cryptocurrencies

**Are cryptocurrencies dead? The answer to this question depends on who answers it. ** A crypto enthusiast will give you a hundred different reasons why cryptocurrencies are not dead. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman both have a keen interest in cryptocurrencies and their potential role in shaping the world of tomorrow.

For a long time in the past, Musk has been a supporter of cryptocurrencies; the cryptocurrency Worldcoin founded by Sam Altman also recently announced its launch. Interestingly, both Musk and Altman are loyal believers in artificial intelligence. Now, while leading the company to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, these two technology leaders are also actively involved in the work of reviving cryptocurrencies.

1. Attracted by the future

As some of the most visionary entrepreneurs in the world, when it comes to cryptocurrencies, it can be said that both Musk and Altman are attracted by ideas and innovations about the future. Cryptocurrency represents an ever-evolving digital landscape that is shaping the future. The process of the digital economy may play a crucial role.

** Altman's idea for Worldcoin seems to come from a dystopian idea. ** In the future, a biometric device will scan the user's iris to determine whether the user is human or artificial intelligence through a unique verifiable digital identity. According to Altman himself, the concept of Worldcoin will be applicable in the very distant future.

Worldcoin will be based on a global identity database of human iris biometrics, using Worldcoin tokens to interact,** associated with all financial transaction data of everyone in the world, and supported by a centralized censorship policy that supports enhanced censorship policies and has the ability to collect sensitive data Managed by non-profit organizations. **

Altman also admitted that there are still many uncertainties in Worldcoin, but he believes that once people understand the feasibility of this technology and the importance of cryptocurrencies in the world economy in the future, people will be open to Worldcoin. While many issues such as ethics and privacy remain unresolved when it comes to cryptocurrencies, many are now fully committed to making progress on these fronts.

2. Prepare for the post-AGI era

On the other hand, the premise of Worldcoin is fascinating. Altman said that the goal of Worldcoin is simple - in the age of artificial intelligence, to build a global financial and identity network based on personal proof. The founders of Worldcoin, including Alex Blania and Max Novendstern, believe that the realization of artificial general intelligence (AGI), **that is, AI surpassing human intelligence, will trigger a surge in productivity and subsequent dramatic wealth creation. **

Now, this is what makes Worldcoin interesting, its creators believe that AI-generated wealth should be distributed equally among all citizens of the world in the form of a cryptocurrency (Universal Basic Income), and the channel that currently seems to work is Worldcoin. Another very important point is that both Musk and Altman predict that AGI will arrive around 2030.

Not everyone agrees with this idea, however. Akshay Bajaj, co-founder of DeFiVerse, believes that Worldcoin seems to be a bit of a misnomer at the moment. “I imagine Worldcoin will have to prove itself to be more than a fancy idea. It turns out that handling this much data on a global scale is going to be a huge challenge. There will certainly be some opposition from governments across multiple jurisdictions. And currently The main function of cryptocurrencies is still hype.”

So far, Worldcoin has raised approximately US$250 million in funding, and has received support from several venture capital institutions and several well-known investors. Still, in addition to shrugging off uncertainty, startups must overcome a number of regulatory challenges. In addition, no one can give a definite answer to whether the current financial system will really be subverted in the post-AGI era.

3. A more realistic approach

**On the other hand, Musk's plans for cryptocurrencies are more realistic than Altman's. "In the coming months, we will add X (Twitter)'s full communication capabilities and ability to manage the entire financial world," he said. **

In fact, as early as when Musk first took over Twitter, some people speculated that he would introduce cryptocurrencies to Twitter. And this speculation was soon confirmed, **According to related reports in April 2023, as part of a partnership with social investment company eToro, Twitter will allow users to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies on the platform. **

Musk's vision is to build Twitter into an artificial intelligence-driven global platform covering all fields. Musk said the plan would start with support for fiat currencies and, if needed, integrate cryptocurrencies at a later date. **This clearly means that Musk's vision of a future world powered by artificial intelligence includes potential use cases for cryptocurrencies. **

In fact, Musk has said earlier that the current banking system is not "real-time and inefficient" and does not match today's digitally connected world. Musk mentioned that the solution to this problem is cryptocurrencies. **So presumably in the near future, Musk's idea will be implemented on Twitter.

“Elon Musk’s crypto policy has been very aggressive. I wish he would talk about ethereum or bitcoin as well,” Bajaj said. Previously, Musk has said that his space company SpaceX will accept Dogecoin as payment, a cryptocurrency he has backed for quite some time. At the same time, Tesla also bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and said the automaker would accept crypto payments.

4. Other technology leaders

Due to the influence of Musk and Altman, many cryptocurrency supporters firmly believe that they will become the "savior" of cryptocurrency. But in fact, there are many technology leaders like them who are also supporting the "renaissance movement" of cryptocurrency. For example, Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, is now actively involved in his own cryptocurrency project. Earlier this year, Dorsey revealed that his company Block (formerly Square) was developing bit keys — a piece of cryptographic hardware into which users could transfer their passwords, allowing them to control the their bitcoins.

** Unlike Altman, however, Dorsey is a firm believer in decentralization. After Twitter, he even created BlueSky, a new generation of decentralized Web3 social platform. **Hence, he doesn't seem interested in Altman's ideas about the Worldcoin project.

Interestingly, Worldcoin is not the first platform to advocate the idea of a universal basic income. **EToro founder Yoni Assia said he was honored by the approach of Worldcoin, which mimics his own GoodDollar, the universal basic income platform. **Like Dorsey, Musk supports a decentralized approach and has said that BlueSky is an interesting idea.

All in all, today when the concept of metaverse is gradually forgotten by people, the pool of cryptocurrency is gradually rippling under the agitation of many technology leaders. Believe it or not, as technological advances drive us through these uncharted waters, so will new possibilities never before seen.