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Why Bitcoin is likely to expand beyond just finance in the era of Web3

Bitcoin's journey from a payment system to a store of value is now entering a new phase where its technology is gaining broader recognition.

Roundtable anchor Rob Nelson recently discussed the next frontier for Bitcoin with Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long.

Long suggested that bitcoin's technology is already being adapted to power decentralized social media platforms like Nostr. Those could increasingly play a pivotal role in this new era of the internet. "You own your identity. No one can take it with you, and it's secured by a private key," she said, highlighting the similarities between owning your own assets and owning your own data.

Nelson emphasized the potential of blockchain technology, saying, "Part of that technology is what you can do creatively on the chain, not just with payments, but with content, with owning data."

Long pointed out the significance of these platforms in combating AI and deepfakes, explaining, "We’re going to be cryptographically signing the real messages so that people know it came from us."

As proving authenticity online becomes more important, Long mentioned it's only getting more necessary for companies to lean into what blockchains offer.

"Bitcoin is ultimately the same technology that's going to secure your online identity. And to be honest, this is not radical and it's not even new,"she said. "Data is so cheap, it's very easy for people to fake it and to just propagate it in an unlimited way. What's real and what's not is ultimately going to be determined by you signing with a cryptographic private key."

Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche blockchain, recently announced that the California DMV would be putting car titles on its public ledger — allowing people to cryptographically store their car title information.