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Cryptocurrency: Spurring Financial Innovation

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We are in a rapidly changing world. What is going to take place over the next decade is going to astound people.

Here we will discuss a few conditions that are going to send things flying.

Coming Out Of A Technological Nadir

This is a point that many seem to overlook. For the last two decades, we were in a technological nadir, at least from society's perspective.

How can this be if technological development is rapidly advancing?

Have you ever heard someone rebut this by saying that life is basically the same in 2020 as it was in 2000 (pre-COVID)? Aside from the smartphone, this is pretty much a true statement.

Life has not changed a ton in the past 20 years. Yes there was progress, but when one looks at how things are done, it is very similar. The office environment, while a bit more automated, still mirrored what was taking place at the turn of the century.

The same was not true when we were in the year 2000 and looking back. Life was very different at that time as compared to 1980. Most of society felt the change. We saw in-home gaming, mobile phones, personal computers, the Internet, digital audio, and cable television all developed. In 1980, copies were still made using a typewriter and carbon paper.

This is a trend that I researched as far back as the 1920s. There are those who looked at it and concluded it is a trend that dates to the 1860s. We can see this same 20 year, roughly, cycle.

Hence, while we can sit here and say there isn't much difference between life today and the way it was in 2010, the same will not hold true a decade from now.

The Internet Has Come To (Blank)

Here we see something that is vitally important.

When the Internet shows up at the doorstep of a particular industry, things get changed very quickly. Over the past 25 years, there are two things we learned from the number of examples of when this happened.

When the Internet shows up:

A) Whatever is there gets obliterated if it does not change. Since most are slow to change, they tend to get washed away. B) Abundance is created while costs are sent to the floor.

We saw this with communication (long-distance phone service), music, video, and information. Presently, we are seeing this in retail, finance, and manufacturing. Just around the corner is healthcare, education, and construction.

As this happens, we see the same playbook utilized. Those who are benefiting from the existing system will dig in to protect what they have. Instead of innovating, they will use methods such as the legal system, lobbying, and their size to try to dissuade change. Unfortunately for them, it never works. It might slow things down but the end result is always the two event just mentioned.

The biggest factor taking place right now is the fact the Internet came to money. This changes things completely and will create an entirely new outlook upon everything. Here is why old ideologies and models are rapidly becoming useless.

Moonshots

The inclination is to think this applies to pricing because it is commonly used in the world of crypto in that manner.

However, moonshots are those initiatives that, if successful, truly will change the course of society. Right now, there are only a few people in the world to are willing to undertake these.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson are some of the richest men in the world. They are also changing the path of humanity due to their vision and willingness to pursue it. What they are doing is a lot more than money although they are well compensated when they are right.

Not long ago, the founder of Snapchat, on the day it went public, became a billionaire. This is something we saw a lot of over the last 15 years. Here is a young man who made a boatload of money.

However, when we look at it from a societal standpoint, was there really a tremendous difference in the world? Certainly, having options is great yet would the world have suffered if it did not have another messenger application?

Many have shied away from the projects that required a lot of money and time up front. The above mentioned individuals are all, among other things, pursuing space. This is a rather costly endeavor which can offer huge benefits, financial and otherwise.

We see news that Quibi is on the verge of going under. It was only 6 months ago that this entity raised $2 billion to try and establish a "mobile-only Netflix". Now, the world will have to do without it.

It appears a case could be made that this money would have been better spent if invested in longevity research. Alas, the payback on that is not quite as quick as if Quibi had hit.

Since we are in the mindset of not investing in the moonshots, it will take a shift for us to realize the potential that is sitting out there. This is where cryptocurrency enters the picture. The ability to fund different projects is vital to us seeing radical change. Thus, one of the most important underlying factors taking place right now is the radical change in financial innovation due to cryptocurrency.

Crypto Steps In To Fill The Gaps

Once of the advantages of a new system is that we can start to approach the major projects that society is presently failing at.

For example, technology made enough progress in the last 20 years that the standard of living for a large percentage of the world was increased. Of course, there are still billions who live in abject poverty where consistent meals are out of the question. This shows the world still has a long way to go.

In spite of that, certain areas of life were improved dramatically. Healthcare, in spite of the battle over how to pay for it, is light years ahead of where it was 40 years ago. Would anyone here prefer to have brain surgery using the methods of that era as compared to today? Of course not. So technology did a lot for humanity in terms of providing benefits that did not exist before.

Naturally, the flip side is that we are seeing policies that lead to income inequality. This tends to spill over into the wealth equation although that would not be as vital if the moonshots technologies were being pursued. The payout for a life saving medical procedure is greater than a new messenger application. Unfortunately, we got a ton of the later and not as much of the former.

Here is where cryptocurrency can step in. The major problems of today can start to be addressed by cryptocurrency. We already know that most fields have loyal, dedicated people. One cannot point to any major issue or challenge and not have a ton of individuals who are working hard at a solution.

The challenge is money. While these people are dedicated, persistent, and highly intelligent, they lack the resources to make a major impact. A great deal of their time is spent in fund raising, ultimately getting a fraction of what a Silicon start up gets for a new application that can tell when we run out of toilet paper.

Cryptocurrency solves this simply by monetizing the network effect. There is already a network of people in place. What they lack is the monetization of the processes they are implementing. Here is where financial innovation enters the picture.

If we can figure out to monetize a blogging site, certainly there are ways to do the same for longevity research. We can also apply the same innovation to food production, clean drinking water, and the curing of cancer. Whatever the situation is, we can tokenize it. The only things we need to do is determine how to make that work.

Over time, it makes sense that, as more people start to think about these things, we will see ideas coming forth which are viable avenues to pursue. While some might fail, especially in the beginning, we will be able to build upon them. This is what leads to massive innovation.

In the end, the financial innovation that we see taking place is going to be the foundation for a massive explosion in societal changes over the next couple decades. Many fields are only held back by funding, something that we can solve via cryptocurrency and blockchain.


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