One criticism from Molly White I read last cycle that I did actually agree with, which was that crypto is strangely self-referential. The social layer is filled with a lot of already crypto-pilled people, telling other already crypto-pilled people why crypto is good/valuable. You don't really see this in other spaces, I'd say it comes across slightly as cope, people who need to keep convincing themselves they're right

Arguably this just arises from a defensive position since it's also true that no other industry also faces as much criticism, fud, etc.

I've heard it said that crypto is just one big group chat with other crypto people.

That might be true in a lot of cases, but one thing I noticed from the first run of @highermarket goods was how often they sparked conversations with people outside of crypto.

It makes me think that Higher (as an ethos) has the potential to resonate beyond the 'already crypto-pilled' crowd. And merch, in particular, feels like a natural way to bridge that gap -- something tangible that invites curiosity and discussion rather than just reinforcing existing beliefs.