The FIO Protocol is live and activated!

On April 2nd, the FIO Protocol was launched and activated by a community of over 21 block producers. Having the community launching a blockchain protocol in the midst of a collapsing world economy and a global pandemic isn’t exactly what we envisioned when we started down this road 1.5 years ago. In the midst of the chaos, however, we believe that there has never been a macro-environment in which cryptocurrencies and blockchain have been better positioned to thrive.

The community’s engagement with launching the FIO Protocol in the midst of this storm speaks volumes about the impact the protocol can have. Think of the things we’ve seen over just the last few weeks:

Creation of massive amounts of fiat currency which is being handed out, arguably, in the biggest “airdrop” of currency in history

Online censorship by social media platforms and some governments

Systemic failures in distribution, supply chains, and coordination

Physical fiat currency being declined as a form of payment at many retailers that are still open

Cracks forming in retail banking — ranging from lack of access to physical cash, negative interest rates, and unprecedented monetary policy

Granted, blockchain and cryptocurrencies do not solve all these problems, but all over the world, blockchain projects and teams have been actively working on reimagining each of these failure points, and as society eventually pulls out of the quagmire of the existing pandemic, we need to have the tools ready for the people to opt-out of the traditional systems.

The next era of blockchain adoption is coming, but if crypto remains too hard for the regular individual, then none of these dreams come to fruition.

This is what the FIO Protocol is here to solve.