Exploring the True Concept of Encryption Native

Since 2021, the term "native encryption" has gradually gained popularity in the encryption industry. Almost everyone new to the field has heard of this term because veterans often mention it. But if you ask them the exact meaning of this term, many might not be able to explain it clearly. Everyone may have a different understanding of what native encryption is. Does it simply mean refreshing encryption-related news on social media every day, investing most of the assets in Bitcoin or Ethereum, staring at market data all day long, or casually discussing grand concepts like "decentralization"? It could include some of these, but it is not limited to just that.

By observing the frequency of mentions of the term "encryption native" across the entire network, we can discover some interesting trends. In 2018, it grew by 5.57 times compared to the previous year, in 2021 it grew by 7.52 times compared to the previous year, and in the first 11 months of 2022, it grew by 2.85 times compared to the previous year. Over time, the attention on encryption native has grown exponentially, and this trend continues to this day.

The Development History of Encryption Native

The concept of encryption native to the crypto world originates from the decentralization philosophy of native encryption currencies. Its narrative starting point can be traced back to Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin. As the cornerstone of encryption currencies, Bitcoin's underlying decentralization philosophy and trustless mechanism are the origins of the encryption native concept.

Since the emergence of Bitcoin in 2008, the first real encryption-native communities have appeared in the world. Although Bitcoin fell into a slump in 2011 due to certain events, this group of true holders and traders of Bitcoin firmly believes in cryptographic algorithms and blockchain technology, advocating the idea that "code is law." During that period, encryption-native referred to those who believed in cryptographic algorithms and actually owned and used Bitcoin.

As time passed, Bitcoin was given the title of "digital gold," and its commodity attributes began to emerge. The influx of people and capital drove the improvement of the early infrastructure of the encryption industry, including mining machines, payment scenarios, trading platforms, and financial derivatives. The rapid growth of Bitcoin's computing power is a strong testament to this process.

In 2014, the founder of Ethereum published the first version of the white paper and conducted a token pre-sale. Subsequently, the Ethereum Virtual Machine and smart contracts emerged, marking the entry of the encryption industry into a brand new era. At this time, the scope of encryption was no longer limited to Bitcoin but also included other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, yet this community still firmly believed in the cryptocurrency system supported by cryptography and blockchain technology.

The establishment and improvement of the Ethereum ecosystem have sparked people's unlimited imagination about public chain ecosystems. New financing methods are emerging one after another, and more and more decentralized applications are showcasing the actual value of blockchain. In addition, the development of on-chain financial derivatives has also promoted the prosperity of centralized exchanges.

Since 2017, discussions about the term "crypto-native" have gradually increased on social media. Some point to young entrepreneurs engaged in cryptocurrency-related projects, considering them to be the new generation of "internet natives" or "mobile natives." These individuals seem to have a stronger innate adaptability to certain lifestyles and mindsets, allowing them to quickly integrate into the crypto world.

As time goes on, the connotation of encryption native continues to enrich. Some describe it as a new era and lifestyle, believing that encryption technology will quietly change people's daily lives. Others understand encryption native from a business operation perspective, considering it as a new type of organizational form built and settled based on code rather than legal systems.

Between 2020 and 2022, fields such as decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens, and game finance flourished, with countless projects emerging, injecting new vitality into the industry. However, the hype will eventually fade, and speculative behavior is difficult to sustain. When the market returns to rationality, all encryption-native participants need to reassess the fundamentals and intrinsic value of the industry and return to their original intentions.

The Core Concept of Encryption Native

decentralized

In contrast to centralization and single-point control, decentralization emphasizes that there is no central authority for macro regulation. For example, Bitcoin is managed by a decentralized network, which gives it independence and resistance to censorship. Even if a certain country bans Bitcoin, other countries may welcome it to attract blockchain entrepreneurs or miners. Even in cases where it is banned globally, as long as there are connections and communication between people, encryption currencies are difficult to eradicate.

No Trust Required

Unlike traditional assumptions of trust and trusted setups, the encryption industry offers a form of global cooperation based on rules rather than subjective commitments. It relies on objective mathematical or cryptographic proofs, rather than trust in specific entities. For example, some Ethereum scaling solutions adopt zero-knowledge proof systems that do not require any trusted entities to participate, ensuring the consistency, completeness, and verifiability of information purely through cryptographic and mathematical means.

No Permission Required

This feature is particularly evident in Web3 infrastructure. It refers to a decentralized market with no entry barriers, where anyone can freely participate in providing or consuming resources. This is fundamentally different from traditional Web2 platforms, which often have barriers on the supply side. For example, certain decentralized storage solutions allow anyone to provide storage resources, which is considered permissionless.

Personal Sovereignty

Encryption native particularly emphasizes individual ownership of their data and assets. In the Web3 era, user-generated content and data belong to the users themselves and possess a certain degree of censorship resistance. This realization of ownership is made possible by blockchain technology, which provides verifiability at the moment data is created and determines ownership through consensus mechanisms. Even if a platform shuts down, users can still trace, verify, and assert their data and assets.

Today, more and more people are paying attention to how to tell a good encryption story, how to break through the limitations of centralized finance, networks, and society, and how to build a free and equal world. This wave is unprecedentedly intense and widespread in human history. The encryption-native community firmly believes that encryption technology can solve many deep-rooted problems in the real world. They are practicing the principles of decentralization on the grand stage of Web3, creating trustless products and building permissionless markets, thereby creating a society that truly protects individual sovereignty. This is the ideal vision in the eyes of encryption-native practitioners.