Why does saying "I work in crypto" feels so cringey and awkward?

Feels like the "crypto" word itself is too loaded, meaning  scams, get rich quick, and 'crypto bro' culture.

I think we've had it great with the Web3 storytelling. It was the strongest narrative we've had:

Web1: "Read-Only" -> Web2: "Read-Write" -> Web3: "Read-Write-Own"

Yet 'Web3' isn't trendy anymore. I don't use it myself much.

It's like after the Metaverse, GameFi, and NFT bubbles we stopped pushing the 'Web3' story, because.... it got cringey as well?

But I think Web3 is the single best narrative that unifies what crypto has to offer.

Even more now than in 2020-22 bull cycle due to AI.

The value of censorship resistance, user ownership, and privacy is important to many. 

Yet, most people view crypto not as a solution, but as a step toward a dystopian future.

We're terrible at selling crypto... I mean the Web3 vision to the masses.

Maybe I should push the Web3 term once again.

Depending on who I’m talking to I’ll usually say “I’m a programmer”. Then if they ask a follow up question I’ll mention Bitcoin or crypto. But unless the person knows about the industry I won’t offer it up ffirst.

Tech Lead at Rootstock Labs building on Bitcoin. Born in Colorado, based in Cyprus.

That is good!. I also work on a Bitcoin L2, so if it gets to that point in the conversation I’ll tell them I ‘build apps on top of bitcoin’. That either gets their attention, or they silently wish they hadn’t asked🤣