The more things change, the more they stay the same

What follows is not a judgement but a (hopefully) realistic appraisal of the situation we find ourselves in.

The popularity of 0DTE options, meme coins, sports betting, lottery tickets and a culture of speculation in general, are a symptom of a deeper malaise of hopelessness in generations coming into what should've been their ages of peak earning potential.

This march towards greater speculation is likely to continue because the underlying causes - unaffordability of housing, lack of upward mobility, inflation, sky-high debt, a feeling that the game is rigged against them, will not, cannot be addressed and might only accelerate in the near future.

For all it's promises, an AGI-like creation that's being promised down the line might just add fuel to the fire of this generational angst and the nihilism that results from work being stripped of it's traditional meaning and worth in a very short span of time.

Coinbase's recent ads tap into this feeling of hopelessness very well. They (self-servingly) contend that 'building a better future' via crypto is the way out.

It might be. Most builders in the space seem motivated by the promise of permissionless value transfer and are working hard to make this happen at various levels.

The sobering realization I've had is that the way to this crypto-utopia will be riddled with so much of speculation (that crypto doesn't solve for but makes easy) that we might just not get there.

The choice millenials and Z'ers then face in this regard is pretty stark - progress towards a promising future where value transfer happens on crypto rails knowing that it will result in even more speculation or opt-out and remain in a rigged system?