Bitcoin

Mainstream media will frame this as a niche academic exercise, but the real story is the growing recognition that GDP fails to capture digital, environmental, and intangible value—areas where crypto-native assets (e.g., tokenized carbon credits, decentralized physical infrastructure) could become benchmarks. If new indicators incorporate on-chain metrics (e.g., network activity, staking yields), Bitcoin and Ethereum could be revalued as infrastructure rather than speculative tools.

The United Nations calls on scientists to help design economic progress indicators beyond GDP.

UN Seeks Economic Metrics Beyond GDP as Crypto Reckons Long-Term Impact

UN's move beyond GDP is a tacit admission that fiat-centric metrics are broken, potentially accelerating crypto adoption as the ultimate progress gauge.

The move dovetails with a wave of institutional demand for verifiable carbon‑credit data, a sector where blockchain solutions have been lobbying for standardisation. As regulators worldwide tighten ESG disclosure rules, an authoritative satellite‑derived forest map becomes a critical data source that could accelerate tokenisation of carbon credits and drive liquidity into climate‑focused DeFi protocols.

Google partnered with the Brazilian government to create a new satellite imagery map aimed at protecting Brazil's forests.