Stellar co-founder Jed McCaleb stated at Consensus: Distributed that no crypto projects are currently making a real difference in people's lives beyond speculation. He argued crypto startups should focus on building useful products rather than bank partnerships and business development deals.
At Consensus: Distributed, Stellar co-founder Jed McCaleb declared that despite over a decade of crypto development, no projects are meaningfully improving people's lives beyond the speculative aspect. He criticized the industry's focus on bank pilots and business development, arguing these distract from creating genuinely useful products. McCaleb emphasized that banks won't adopt crypto technologies until they see real-world adoption elsewhere. He highlighted Stellar's vision as an open, permissionless protocol for financial interoperability and pointed to practical initiatives like a user-friendly wallet for Latin America as the path forward. McCaleb acknowledged significant hype and misallocation in crypto but expressed confidence in Stellar's foundation and approach to gaining traction.