Many believe that governments are going to stop cryptocurrency. There seems to be a thought process out there that says it can ban it. We also see the notion that this stuff is worthless by the likes of Jamie Dimon.
To be fair, he was referring to bitcoin in particular but I would imagine that is his sentiment for all crypto.
The problem is that everyone is taking a look at this from the monetary perspective without, in many instances, really understanding money in the modern age. Nevertheless, in this article we will go through why this will not disappear and will actually get more valuable.
Digital Real Estate
What is cryptocurrency? This is a question that many assume they know the answer to. The problem is they never really thought about what it is and, even more important, what it represents. Here is where the first major mistake enters.
Cryptocurrency is a digital asset. It is a token that represents something else. This is very common in the age of computing. It also gives us insight into why tokens cannot be banned.
Take a look at this screenshot.
This was taken from llama2.ai. Notice how we are dealing with tokens on that site. This is an inherent component of the accounting system for the activity that takes place. Naturally, this is not a token that is traded or distributed. It is simply a unit of measure.
Here we gain some insight. Tokens are a unit of measure related to something.
In this specific instance, the token applies to processing. It is an accounting system of how many resources were utilized to generate the resulting output.
That means tokens are related to some type of resource.
The idea of digital real estate enters in the fact that networks only have a certain amount of resources available at any given time. This could be processing power or storage. Most are going to have a combination of this.
Now we start to realize that cryptocurrency is really just the distribution of the resources a network has. Since there is a built in scarcity, the value will fluctuate according to the demand of resources versus the supply.
In this instance, tokenization is nothing more than the quantification of computer resources.
Valuable "Land"
Does anyone believe networks are going to become less prevalent in the future? Do you think computer processing demand will diminish?
Everything we see goes counter to that. Storage and processing are only increasing in demand. This is true no matter what the [network is.
AWS is a great business because entities are requiring more. Let us take a company like Walmart: are their processing and data storage needs declining? Of course not.
This does not mean, however, that Walmart requires a blockchain. We know that not all data is meant to be decentralized. That said, we do know there is plenty of data out there that should fall under this category. We are simply in the early stages of what will be a transformation in computer storage. Public records, for example, should be on a public blockchain. That only makes sense. Naturally, it will take years before governments give up that control.
Web 3.0 discusses the idea of ownership.
It becomes clear when we look at the network level. Tokens are the quantification of resources tied to that system. These will only increase in demand over the rest of the decade as the quantity of data grows. This is the same premise that made Google, Amazon, and Microsoft so valuable, at least in part. These corporations have enormous data warehouses which it often leases out to users.
The shift with blockchain, with regards to this discussion, is the fact it is public. Society needs to ask certain questions:
- should private banks control the medium of exchange?
- is it right for Google to own one's video after it is uploaded to that platform?
- why does Visa take a cut of every transaction?
- do we need all these intermediaries in our financial system?
- why do we allow major tech companies to control almost all the data?
All of these bring up problem areas with the existing data system. Again, not all data is going to end up on public blockchains There is, however, enoughout there that can be transferred, generating high demand.
Network Value
The future in wealth generation is going to depend upon network value. This was always the case yet it is more evident these days.
With cryptocurrency, there is a way to capture the value of a public network, thereby mimicking what some of the largest technology companies did over the last couple decades.
A computer network is basically the same. The differences enter when we see what is built in terms of software, algorithms, applications, and development. At the core, they are all starting at a similar point.
What is even more interesting is the idea of a network is equally applicable to money. Visa is not a credit company as much as a computer network with global reach. It invested billions in building out and maintaining its network. Every second of the day, it is recording transactions, further building the database.
Blockchains do the same thing and, in many instances, much more. This is where network value is going to come from.
All of this is tied to the general essence of computing. This mean, to me, there is only one question:
- will the need for computing resources increase or decrease over the next decade or two?
The answer to this reveals it all.