Crypto is known for financial use cases, but how can it grow from there?

As crypto and blockchain technology gains more attention among regulators, many are asking what are some use cases for the industry beyond making money, all in an effort to define why it exists in the first place.

To help keep track of these use cases, Polygon Labs last month released The Value Prop, a database of the various ways web3 can be implemented. The company now has 430 total projects across 42 use cases and nine verticals, Polygon Labs exclusively shared with TechCrunch+.

Polygon Labs has been working on an initiative to provide regulators with this type of information. In June, the company wrote in a blog post that it built the database to show various ways web3 can be used in order to answer some of these questions.

Often, when people think about crypto they immediately associate it with “get rich quick” scenarios. Just think of meme coins pumping (and later dumping) and the hype around NFTs.

The 2023 economic report looked at blockchain technology and even reviewed three use cases: Walmart Canada and using blockchain technology with its supply chain; decentralized wireless network Helium; and NFTs and virtual real estate. The takeaway from the report was that those have “demonstrated only limited, if any, economic benefits so far.” But it also acknowledged that proponents still claim that the technology could find productive uses in the future as companies and governments continue to experiment with it.

This is something that has been stressed in the past by regulators in D.C. when talking about crypto or blockchain technology during hearings. Polygon’s database could potentially help them keep track of nonfinancial use cases in an easier way.