Crypto has gone from fringe tech experiment to global economic force and it shows. We’re watching the rails of a parallel financial system being laid in real time. Bitcoin is now used for remittances, store of value, escape from authoritarian regimes, and more. Lightning is pushing micropayments forward. Stablecoins are eating traditional finance’s lunch in the Global South.

But with that growth comes a harsh reality: the scammers are also here, and they’re getting smarter.

The Trump Coin fiasco is a textbook example. Someone spins up a token tied to a political brand, markets it to hype hungry users, and vanishes with the profits. It’s not new but the scale is getting bigger, and the consequences louder. And since crypto is still largely unregulated and permissionless, this kind of exploitation is almost expected. That’s a feature and a bug.

Crypto’s greatest strengths decentralization, censorship resistance, open access are the very same qualities that allow rug pulls, wash trading, and endless hype fueled scams to thrive.

So what do we do?

Education is still too thin. Most users don’t know how to spot a scam, let alone self custody safely.

Transparency is inconsistent degens worship anonymity, but that often just empowers bad actors.

Regulation? A double edged sword. Too heavy handed and we kill innovation. Too hands off and scammers run wild.

And yet, despite all of this, crypto keeps going. Why? Because people need it. Not everyone is here to gamble. In places like Nigeria, Argentina, and Lebanon, it’s survival tech. Permissionless value transfer isn’t a novelty it’s a necessity.

Crypto’s importance is now undeniable. The question is: can we evolve this space into something resilient, ethical, and still open?