Ask the average person what they know about cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and they’ll likely answer that they’re scams. But deep in the trenches of the emerging crypto culture, a picture of a legitimate business ecosystem is coming into high relief.

“It’s moving from a culture of Burning Man and cult of the personalities to real industry formation,” said John Furrier (@furrier, pictured, left), cohost of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio. The tell signs of this abound, with venture capitalists, developers and companies charging to the scene, he explained. An ecosystem is developing from the cross currents of brute competition and collective collaboration. 

Furrier and co-host Dave Vellante (@dvellante, right) peered into the future of crypto at the Polycon18 event at the Baha Mar resort in The Bahamas.

Polycon is an investor conference built around security tokens, initial coin offerings, utility tokens, protocols, etc. This year’s show attracted a diverse mix of intrepid VCs, tons of millennials, and developer investors who’ve made bank on crypto and are now sprinkling the wealth around.

On one side of the aisle, there are raucously competitive investors jousting for golden opportunities. “It’s like Survivor Baha Mar,” Vellante said. “It’s like a PayPal mafia. And they’re basically buying up all the tokens early, elbowing other people out.” 

A token of friendship

It’s not all bloody fisticuffs. There are considerable pockets of investors and developers giving peace a chance for the good of all. “The old saying is, ‘Venture capital is a team sport.’ That is very much what is going on here,” Furrier said.

The cryptocurrency early risers who developed ultimately successful tokens are now sharing the harvest, investing and forming alliances. “You’re starting to see people syndicate together,” Furrier said. “You buy my coin, I’ll buy your coin.”

The meta story at the conference isn’t so much about tokens but the blockchain ledger itself. “Blockchain is building out this whole new internet,” Vellante said. Blockchain is also lending itself to mission-based societal entrepreneurship that is drawing in millennials.

“You’re looking at blockchain ventures that track water supply; you’re looking at blockchain ventures that track food supply; you’re looking at solving world hunger kind of challenges,” Furrier said. Silicon Valley has thus far only paid lip service to this type of work, he added. 

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Polycon18.

Photo: SiliconANGLE