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The last six months have been a strange, exhilarating time for crypto. First, there was the so-called Trump effecta surge in crypto prices and on-chain activity triggered by the then president-elects vocal support of crypto. Then came the viral Hawk Tuah meme, which somehow alchemized into a crypto memecoin that rocketed in value, pulled headlines, and emptied wallets in equal measure. For many first-time crypto users, these moments were their gateway into the blockchain. Wallets were downloaded. Tokens were swapped. Twitter (now X) feeds were flooded with strange new lingo: HODL, degen, DYOR. It was a wild ride. For most newcomers, the experience probably felt like trying to join a conversation in a foreign language while riding a rollercoaster. As the leader of a nonprofit dedicated to educating everyday Americans about crypto, I welcome this influx of interest. Crypto, at its best, can democratize financial access, create transparency, and offer new tools for digital empowerment. But hype cycles also bring risk: not just of financial loss, but of alienation and misunderstanding. Its time we decouple the signal from the noise. Crypto isnt just for brosand it never was Lets start by busting one of cryptos most persistent stereotypes: that its just for young, wealthy finance bros chasing dreams of Lamborghini sports cars (aka Lambos) and going to the moon. Sure, that subculture existsjust like it does in day trading and sports betting. But cryptos roots are far more diverse. Earlier this year, we conducted one of the largest-ever studies of crypto holders in America. We found that almost one third (31%) are women, and more are over the age of 55 (15%) than under 25 (11%). Nearly as many crypto users work in construction (12%) as do in technology (14%)far more than those working in finance (7%)and many do not belong to higher income brackets, with roughly a quarter (26%) of crypto-owning households earning less than $75,000/year. The stereotype is outdated and, frankly, dangerous. It discourages thoughtful newcomers from participating and lets bad actors hide behind a smokescreen of memes and cartoonish masculinity. The future of crypto will be shaped by everyday Americans, not caricatures. Decode the lingo, stay for the mission Dont let the lingo intimidate you. You dont need to speak crypto fluently to participatejust like you dont need to know what “https” means to send an email. But to new users feeling overwhelmed by the language of crypto, heres a quick translation guide to get started: HODL: Originally a typo for hold, it means holding on to your crypto for dear life and resisting the urge to sell in volatile markets. Its become a philosophy for long-term belief in a projects value. Degen: Short for degenerate, it describes high-risk traders chasing fast gains in often unvetted projects. Its part joke, part warning. Memecoin: A token built around a joke or cultural moment like Dogecoin or the recent Hawk Tuah coin. Some are created in jest, others are tapping into legitimate community-driven goals. Think of these as digital collectibles, like Pokemon cards. Tips for crypto newbies Start small, stay curious: The best way to learn is by doing. Treat your first crypto transaction like your first gym sessionyoure here to learn the ropes, not break a record. Use reputable platforms: Avoid buying coins just because theyre trending on TikTok. Stick to exchanges and wallets with strong reputations, transparent policies, and educational resources. Do your own research: Known as DYOR in the crypto world, do your own research and lean on trusted sources. Unfortunately like any industry, there is risk of scams or fraud with crypto. Rule of thumb: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Beyond the buzz Cryptos potential isnt defined by celebrity endorsements or trending memes. It lies in what happens beyond the hype: freedom to exchange value directly, without back-office delays or middlemen taking control. Transparent governance and extra layers of privacy. True ownership and accessibility of your digital identity and assets. Regardless of what piqued your interest in crypto or when, welcome. Youre right on time. The memes may fade, but cryptos promise is here to stay. Stu Alderoty is president of the National Cryptocurrency Association.
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E-Commerce
In any language, silence sounds just about the same. It carries a thunderous kick, though, when it comes from Duolingo, the worlds most popular language-learning app, and its famously irreverent social media presence. Facing heavy backlash online after unveiling its new AI-first policy, Duolingo went dark over the weekend on the social media channels where it cultivated an enormous following with quirky posts. The company even took down all of its posts on TikTok and Instagram, where it has 6.7 million and 4.1 million followers, respectively, after both accounts were flooded with negative feedback. After days of silence, on Tuesday the company posted a bizarre video message on TikTok and Instagram whose meaning is hard to decipher. Duolingo had been riding high before CEO Luis von Ahn announced on LinkedIn that the company is phasing out human contractors, looking for AI use in hiring and in performance reviews, and that headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work. The company ended 2024 with $748 million in revenue, up 41% year over year, and it had more than 116 million monthly active users and 9.5 million paying subscribers as of March. The previous month, the company had executed its most successful social media campaign ever, with the death (by Cybertruck) of the brands mascot, Duo the owl, and his eventual resurrection two weeks later. Duolingo has had such a tremendous yearwith its stock near an all-time high, closing at $526 per share on Tuesdaythat it recently raised its sales forecast for 2025. But that was before the backlash. Duolingo previously faced criticism for quietly laying off 10% of its contractor base and introducing some AI features in late 2023, but it barely went beyond a semi-viral post on Reddit. Now that Duolingo is cutting out all its human contractors whose work can technically be done by AI, and relying on more AI-generated language lessons, the response is far more pronounced. Although earlier TikTok videos are not currently visible, a Fast Company article from May 12 captured a flavor of the reaction: The top comments on virtually every recent post have nothing to do with the video or the companyand everything to do with the companys embrace of AI. For example, a Duolingo TikTok video jumping on board the Mama, may I have a cookie trend saw replies like Mama, may I have real people running the company (with 69,000 likes) and How about NO ai, keep your employees. Another video that tied into the How to Train Your Dragon character Hiccup brought comments like Was firing all your employees and replacing them with AI also a hiccup? This weekend Duolingo expunged all its videos and photos on TikTok and Instagram, and ceased putting out new content on all other channels. Lets just say were experimenting with silence, a spokesperson for Duolingo told Fast Company over email. Sometimes, the best way to make noise is to disappear first. If that last line sounds like a cryptic Don Draperism, it recalls one of the more famous pieces of advice from Mad Men: If you dont like what is being said, change the conversation. Over the past several days, the silence made it seem like Duolingo was gearing up for another of its signature viral stunts. Sure enough, on Tuesday, one arrived. @duolingo DUOLINGO WAS NEVER FUNNY. WE WERE. original sound – Duolingo Duolingos first video drop in days has the degraded, stuttering feel of a Max Headroom video made by the hackers at Anonymous. In it, a supposed member of the companys social team appears in a three-eyed Duo mask and black hoodie to complain about the corporate overlords ruining the empire the heroic social media crew built. Everything came crashing down after one single post about AI, our interlocutor says, a winking nod to the cause of the backlash. The problem, however, wasnt one single post about AI, but the companys policies around AI. If the problem were just a cute post that went sideways, it could be solved with another cute post. But this is something Duolingo cant cute-post its way out of. Its the double-edged sword of a company becoming famous for its fun, massively popular social media presence: When social media turns on you, its a lot more noticeable. Creating a kooky, personality-driven brand identity online has zero downside until the moment a company must respond to an actual backlash in the exact same digital town square where it conducted all that brand-building business. Now Duolingo has thrust itself into what looks like a cant-win double-bind, whereby posting through it might seem callous and tone-deaf, but addressing the controversy seriously would be a jarring disruption that plays like it was filmed at gunpoint. Wendys, which kind of pioneered the unhinged corporate brand account in the early 2010s, faced a similar dilemma last year. When the company appeared to float the idea of implementing surge pricing on its burgers, fans revolted on social media. Some responded to typically cheeky Wendys posts by mocking the brands attempt to harness internet humor at a time when the internet was mad at that brand. In that case, Wendys quickly denied plans to implement surge pricing, and disgruntled fans moved on nearly as quickly. Duolingo, on the other hand, has not yet meaningfully addressed the policies that inspired the backlash against it. Now the Duolingo social media team is trying to have it both ways, taking an ironic, postmodern approach to address a serious issue, instead of breezing past it. Without the company confronting the controversy elsewhere, though, the subtext of every cute social post is that the customers unhappy with Duolingos AI direction are not worth taking seriously. We cant just move on and pretend everythings fine, the mask-wearing Duolingo employee says at one point in the new video. Hes flicking at the idea of taking accountability for the AI fallout, but in the video, its meant to be a rejoinder from the Duolingo social team to the faceless entities above whove made them look bad. Its difficult to parse the exact message here. The video is somehow simultaneously defensive, satirical, avoidant, and flippant. Though it may be the opening salvo in a broader message, for now it seems like a half-baked rush response to a very real issuethe Duolingo brand version of just moving on and pretending everythings fine. Judging by the eyeroll-y comments on the brands TikTok post, though, users can sense as much. It doesnt take a language-learning app to know how to read between the lines.
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E-Commerce
At the Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA), we enable high level women to mentor each other to enable each leader to achieve personal and professional happiness through sisterhood. As the nonprofit organizations founder, chair, and CEO, I am honored to interview and share insights from some of the thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer mentoring. Our insights today come from Susan Holliday, board director and adviser, who speaks about her global career in the insurance industry, spotting new risks and turning them into opportunities. Q: Your career has addressed various issues related to the insurance industry. What are some recent challenges? Susan Holliday: I entered the insurance industry by chance, as so many people do. It is a fascinating sector because you learn about global challenges from climate change to driverless cars, pandemics, geopolitical risks, and new technologies, to name just a few. New risks bring new opportunities in insuring the risks for people, companies, and governments. Q: Can you give me some examples? Holliday: Yes, a new risk that became insurable during my career, specifically after the 9/11 tragedy, was terrorism. More recently, cyberinsurance doubled in premiums between 2017 and 2020 and then again 2020 to 2022. The two new opportunities Im most excited about are AI along with crypto and blockchain. There are many new risks for people and companies around these issues, and at the same time, the insurance sector can make use of these new technologies in different ways to be more efficient and to help their clients manage risk. This is also an opportunity to develop new insurance products to cover the risks. I see the market going the same way as cyber. In order to get insurance, companies will have to show they are meeting certain risk management standards, and the insurance is also going to focus on monitoring and prevention, not just paying claims after there is a problem. Q: You mention crypto and blockchain. Thats not talked about nearly as much as AI. Why now? Holliday: Im doing a lot of work in this space now, because it is becoming more mainstream and soon all sorts of companies will be getting involved with it in some way. This is driven by several factors: real use cases getting implemented, a more friendly stance towards crypto from the current U.S. administration, and some new legislation being proposed or passed in various parts of the world, like Europe, Singapore, and Australia. This means a wider range of companies that have never thought about crypto, and are probably terrified by Bitcoin, are going to want to explore and fully understand the upside and downside risks. There are important opportunities for the insurance sector too. In some cases, using blockchain or crypto can actually reduce risks. There are new risks such as losing the keys to a wallet which means you cant access your cryptocurrency, or someone who has the keys can steal it. New insurance products are going to be created, along with risk management standards to be able to actually buy the insurance, so it will improve security overall. Q: What kind of use cases are you expecting? Holliday: We have seen some companies invest in Bitcoin as part of their treasury management. Individual investors have more opportunities to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies now because there are a number of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available, which means the investor can get exposure without having to deal with a wallet, keeping control of the keys and custody. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies based on a fiat currency such as the dollar or the euro. Stablecoins are increasingly being used for international payments, and legislation on stablecoins has been passed in the EU, UK, and some Asian countries and there are currently bills in the U.S. House and Senate. This is likely to increase the use of stablecoins. Blockchains are decentralized digital ledgers which use cryptography to process transactions in blocks. Blockchains are the underlying technology that allow crypto currencies to function. An early use case for blockchain was traceability and authentication of high value assets, such as diamonds. It can also be used to ensure data integrity or authenticate transactions such as a land registry and several governments in different parts of the world have launched initiatives in this area. Recent changes in the U.S. administrations approach to the regulation of crypto tokens mean that companies are likely to consider issuing or selling tokens, which is already common in gaming companies. We have seen luxury goods and fashion companies use tokens to drive customer loyalty and engagement, although there is still uncertainty over investor acceptance and future regulatory developments. A relatively early use case for blockchain was for smart, self-executing index-based (parametric) insurance contracts. As GenAI picks up steam and we see the prospect of agentic AI, we are likely to see this technology being deployed more frequently as we see AI agents transacting with each other. Q: That is a lot of change especially for those uneducated in the topic. What is your advice? Holliday: The message is, even if you have no intention of ever investing in Bitcoin, business leaders need to keep an eye on that is going on in the crypto and blockchain space because its going to impact many sectors and industries. Larraine Segil is founder, chair, and CEO of The Exceptional Women Alliance.
Category:
E-Commerce
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