While much of the world remains unaware or skeptical, Bitcoin and its crypto-cousins are quietly building a parallel financial system. It’s a friction-less system of economic networks with global 24/7 availability and advanced functionality that, in many respects, already exceeds the capabilities of big banks and legacy financial infrastructure.
This rapidly emerging crypto-economic network will become the world’s largest and you, dear reader, will one day be an eager and delighted user. Importantly, this parallel financial system—which is built on the back of public blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum—is its own distinct ecosystem, not an “add-on” to legacy banking products. (Disclosure: My firm, Blockchain Capital, invests in blockchain startups and crypto assets.)
There’s a lot of questions: Why should anyone care about this parallel world of crypto-finance? Why are tens of thousands of developers dedicating themselves to building out these economic networks which, in aggregate, are already valued north of $120 billion? Who will be the winners in this sea change of money and finance?