ASPEN—At the Technology Policy Institute’s annual Aspen Forum, the premier tech policy conference in the U.S., skeptics and enthusiasts of Web3, cryptocurrency, and the metaverse debated the benefits and drawbacks of these emerging technologies.

[quote] “The problem is that our experience with the blockchain already shows that it is just not gonna happen. … the bank for international settlement has said that it’s a decentralization illusion in crypto, and let’s be real. Of course, there are intermediaries to profit. Why else are all those venture capitalists pouring this money into it, right?” – Hillary Allen, Professor at Washington College of Law