What Is Going On With Markets Today? (Part 2)

So -

Mr. Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

(If you haven’t yet read the whitepaper, you should.)

Generally speaking, the goal of cryptocurrencies are to form a kind of end around old institutions that clog up systems with market inefficiencies. Bitcoin is doing this by attempting to solve problems associated with “double-spending” - via a decentralized cryptographic network of users, nodes, and miners.

Or, put simply.

To start a new game.

(Ideally, one that’s fairer?)

To be clear, I’m not here to sell you anything.

(a sub would be nice though.)

This is Blockchain Philosophy.

My goal, is to help you think different.

To add a limited measure of perspective, and have you come to your own conclusions.

One such perspective I readily hold, “real money” is an oxymoron.

All of it depends on YOU.

The network informs the value; the object sits there.

There is nothing of inherent value in magical internet money, just as there is nothing of inherent value in green paper with dead men’s faces.

We act in ways that encourage this degenerate behavior..

And, because of this, the game proceeds.

Our collective greed propels forth a machine indifferent to our very well-being.

This is - in part - why the system needs to change. Pegging reality to an anti-inflationary asset like Bitcoin was a step in the right direction; though there is still a debate to be had as to the role of a fixed supply.

To that end, we are currently engaging in a real time experiment. Various protocols and platforms - all with various flavors of crypto applications built upon them - are vying for our attention. Though more importantly, our dollars.

At days end - we determine both the boundaries and constraints of our financial systems, and do so via our shared conception of money.

We cannot blame ‘society’, because we are society.

That is why it is of utmost importance - now - to reawaken to the function of money and divest from our obsession with it.

Power is often viewed as a derivative of control.

Seems to me no longer a working definition, as true power most often emerges as a function not of coercion, but of cooperation. We need to work together, to win.

Because.. people are not widgets.

They are human.

And in a world where we’ve managed to make money into a game, GDP doesn’t tell me much about the state of a nations overall economic health.

Ok, net exports and general commercial activity - check.

But what about the stuff that actually matters?

Well being.

Public trust.

Happiness.

Security.

Love..

Perhaps, it’s time for a more holistic approach.

What really matters now (and what I believe what has always mattered) cannot be quantified by reductionist, materialist, and rationalist dogma.

We need more Truth.

We need more creativity.

Inspiration. Innovation. Collaboration.

The ultimate feedback loop.

*And things you cannot put into a bank account, I’m afraid.

This is my case -

Money has long served as a proxy for material value.

We figured; if I want to get “x”, I need to have “y” (usually cash).

But what if, instead of spending time on money so that you can spend money on time…

We just spend time directly?

In that, whatever by-products come of our focused and passionate work lives, could be deposited into the collective bank of humanity - ensuring that nobody is left behind.

But, the abundance created and sustained could also ensure that those with more expensive appetites are not punished for exploring that side of existence.

We could effectively do what we want, within the boundaries of social cohesion.

Sounds a bit like socialism, to be fair.

And this can be a bad word to some.

Though, I’m not big on labels.

I prefer to employ common sense.

To combine our technical prowess and engineering abilities with a more practical commercial orientation. Because which direction we choose to head, is up to us.

Though, we need to know where we want to go first.

The decisions we make over the next decade will prove pivotal.

We all need to opt in. To a better future.

For ourselves, and our posterity.

Together, we just might build something that outlasts us all.

The web has in many ways levelled the playing field for free markets, and it’s only going to get more refined, though progress will not be linear.

As such, there will be jolts, leaps, and sudden lurches in the space over the next decade, and “Web 3.0” may well represent that quantum leap.

The infrastructure is being coded in real time. Metaverses are populating servers and new tokens are being minted everyday. It’s the wild west of money and markets.

Free information, means free enterprise, which also means more organic solutions to the problems we face as a collective.

Rather than being imposed from archaic top down institutions, can necessary change become an emergent quality of a collectively conscious human organism?

If we are all empowered - say, via Bitcoin - to directly transact with people around the world, with no singular entity monitoring or approving these payments, could it spur a renaissance period of meaningful reinvestments, leading to an abundant future for all?

I think so.

Because, when wealth is concentrated, asymmetrical incentive structures render some people worse off than others. (see: Tesla)

But.

When people are constrained by the inherent properties of a currency - efficient use becomes more important. How each fraction of a bitcoin gets allocated becomes much more important when you know the upper limit is 21 million coins in circulation.

So, yes -

We have self-landing rockets, which frankly, is awesome.

Yet, nearly a quarter of the planet still has limited access to water.

This is a problem.

But, also an opportunity.

Imagine what the next decades could reap if we could see clearly what needed to be done as a unit, and did those things with conviction.

If we began to see money not as a thing to hoard, but as a tool to use.

Peer - to - peer.

(For good.)

We live in the most abundant period in human history.

Despite crazy headlines, it would behoove us to take a good look around and marvel at how beautiful this existence really is. Then, proceed to make it more so.

We’ve got vertical farms, dreams of becoming interplanetary, plant based meats and probably some alien tech. Cool. Great.

But, what if, as a stretch goal — we also aim to ensure that sure every single human being on the planet is treated as such?

A decade, to solve world hunger and homelessness.

We have the resources; we have the money.

But, do we have the will?

(Not the economic imperative… but the will.)

When I say that money is fake, I do not mean that money is useless.

I mean that value is entirely dependent on it’s network of users.

Capitalism brought us to a point where we can communicate to each other via video streams on super computers in our pockets.

That’s amazing.

Especially considering that 20 years ago we were using floppy disks.

But what good is technology if there are still human beings dying of thirst?

If I am rich, and my neighbor is poor — am I really rich?

Yes, you might have money.

But are you rich?

Maybe. 

Meet be back here next week for the final part in this series on money and our relationship to it.

Thanks for reading my blog How Money Works, on my newsletter Blockchain Philosophy

Follow me on Twitter @Toso___