We’re on the verge of the next great wave of crypto adoption, and this time, it’s for everyone.

In the early days, Proof of Work brought in users who could contribute compute and electricity.

Then came Proof of Stake, unlocking access for those with capital.

DeFi Summer expanded the tent, rewarding users for bringing liquidity and building protocol network effects.

But what about the rest of the world?

What about the billions who don’t have spare capital to stake, swap, or ape into yield farms, but do have mobile phones, time, and the will to participate?

Until now, these users have largely been left out. And that’s a shame because crypto’s origin story is rooted in inclusion.

Thankfully, we’re finally entering a new chapter made possible by decentralized identity protocols like @World and @SelfProtocol.

These protocols offer something PoW and PoS never could: the ability to reward users without requiring upfront capital, all while keeping sybil resistance intact.

World uses trusted hardware to establish global uniqueness. While it's incredibly inclusive if you have access to an orb, reaching everyone on the planet can be challenging.

As an alternative, Self builds on the world’s most trusted attestation of your humanity that exists today: your passport. While passport issuance isn’t decentralized, it is globally federated and cryptographically verifiable. Thanks to this cryptography, Self lets you prove your humanity in zero knowledge and without a counter party, without revealing who you are.

This unlocks something powerful:

Incentives for real users, not bots

A path to onboard billions who’ve been excluded

An ecosystem less dominated by capital and more by participation

If we get this right, we won’t just onboard the next billion, we’ll onboard the first billion who were truly left behind.

The sybil problem is finally solved. And with it, it will help usher the next wave of crypto adoption. Crypto can finally fulfill its promise, not just as a new financial system, but as a fairer one.