Thread by @Melt_Dem

1/ last week, i enjoyed the beauty of the alps and the conversations at @CFCstmoritz, where I spoke about investing in the digitization and financialization of, well.... everything!

the future of money and finance is very hot 🔥 alps, very cold ❄️

short thread (w charts) 📈

@CFCstmoritz 2/ the last ten years of bitcoin have taken us from consumer products and services to more institutional products and services

as this week's #Davos2020 headlines reveal, we are about to enter a new era of digital money where we bank with bitcoin (and other digital currencies)

@CFCstmoritz 3/ the largest and most powerful companies in the world have gone from producing and owning physical assets to being the gatekeepers to our digital and financial lives

the big battle is no longer for physical assets, but for control over our digital lives (data!)

@CFCstmoritz 4/ nowhere is this reflected better than in the growth of the S&P. 5 companies make up 15% of the US stock market. can you guess who they are?

welcome to your digital overlords

@CFCstmoritz 5/ while the internet is an open network, it's captive to a handful of corporations who extract a disproportionate amount of value through their market share and control.

@CFCstmoritz 6/ at the same time, a never-ending supply of free money is the major driver of financialization

exhibit A: the rapid growth of investments in technology and growth stocks, as Wall Street (and in PE and VC too) as investors chase short term financial returns over long term value

@CFCstmoritz 7/ so what happens next? we are on the cusp of an explosion in digital finance!

we are going to see a rapid shift in how the world trades, transacts, and interacts with money. bitcoin was just the beginning, and everyone wants a way to play.

@CFCstmoritz 8/ social networks will become payment networks, and payment networks will become social networks

@venmo is an early example of payment -> social

@WeChatApp is social -> payments

add bitcoin to this, and things start to get really fascinating

@CFCstmoritz @venmo @WeChatApp 9/ everyone wants a piece of the action... but how do we keep our digital overlords from owning our financial lives?

this is where bitcoin really shines - we build the tools for the resistance. more choice, more platforms, more control back in your hands.

@CFCstmoritz @venmo @WeChatApp 10/ it's going to be an epic battle

cashless economies
touchless payments
competing sovereign and non-sovereign currencies
governments lose control of monetary hegemony
banks lose control of payments
tech giants become megaliths
and networks rule us all

the race is on 🏁