Ed3 Weekly Issue #194: Parallel Universes
Navigating the dual reality of a record-breaking blockchain utility and a volatile market hangover
Hello blockchain enthusiasts,
“Deep inside of a parallel universe
It's getting harder and harder to tell what came first.”
I feel like this 1999 song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is going to emerge as a key theme for 2026. As we step into this new year, there is a strange, dual reality in the digital space.
There is a merging into the mainstream. We are seeing things like Netflix greenlighting a crypto comedy, and Ethereum is processing more daily transactions than it did during the height of the 2021 NFT mania. A lot of this represents the invisible plumbing we’ve been talking about.
On the other track, there is also the reality of a market hangover. After a vertical surge in 2025, the markets were hit with a flash crash that was fueled by leverage and shifting global tariffs. In this universe, crypto still represents volatility and skepticism.
So which universe is “real”? The answer is both.
As educators, our job is to navigate the space between these universes. We have to look past the red candles of the market crash to see the record-breaking utility happening on-chain.
This week, we explore how these parallel tracks are converging, ultimately leading to their integration into real-world infrastructure.
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📚 Education + Society
🔗 Netflix has just announced an upcoming crypto comedy film—but why has it taken so long for the industry to hit the silver screen? Read
💡 Innovation + Trends
Ethereum daily transactions hit all-time high, surpassing 2021 NFT boom
🔗 The number of daily transactions on Ethereum surged to a new all-time high, alongside notable increases in the number of new and active addresses, data shows. Read
📊 Markets
Crypto soared in 2025 — and then crashed. Now what?
🔗 What went wrong? Here’s a look at why crypto soared — and then crashed. Read
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🤿 Deep Dive
KnowlejCon LA: Empower. Educate. Elevate.
🔗 KnowlejCon LA serves as a powerful bridge between the “parallel universes” of high-tech infrastructure and human-centered pedagogy by reimagining the very nature of student motivation. At its core, the conference explores a shift from passive compliance to active ownership through an innovative “Learn-to-Earn” model that leverages rewards to tackle systemic challenges like chronic absenteeism.
The potential to anchor tokenized incentives and AI-driven personalization within a framework like Knowlej gets me excited. It is a further example of how the true power of education innovation isn’t found in the technology itself, but in how we use those tools to restore agency and economic opportunity to the students who need it most. Read
Thank you for stopping by for another issue of my newsletter on emerging technology in education. Link to all my work by checking out my website, or give me a follow on the X platform.