This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Watch As Blockchain & GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) Send Slower Banks The Way of the Classified Ad
Last year I penned "Who Are The Three Biggest Data Companies In the World? 1) Google 2) the Fed 3) JP Morgan/ECB" in an attempt to illustrate what many C-suite professionals seem to be missing. That is banks are essentially in direct competition with GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon - the pre-eminent data companies of our time). Banks are only just now starting to catch on to this, but the problem is they are catching on in the wrong way... again. It appears as if banks are concerned that GAFA will gain control of the user by sitting in between the heavily regulated commidity service (banking) and the user/user interface/user experience. Apple Pay is a very strong example of such. Now, don't get me wrong - that's a very valid concern. It's just that it's a concern born out of a gross misunderstanding of how the new "money" technologies work and what they are capable of. In all due respect to banking management, they are not the only one's who may not fully grasp this concept. I've notice many very smart investors and regulators may be missing the point as well. I glean this as I go on my mini-roadshow to raise capital for Veritaseum. The problem for the bankers is that they are the one's who will be affected the most. Investors may miss out on the next big thing. Regulators may pass inefficient regulation that may need to be re-written. Bankers face relegation to base utility companies with capped profits and margins, literally shielded from both the public view and mindshare... and that's the optimistic scenario! The probable scenario is that most bank functions will be subsumed into software and banks go the way of the classified ad (which was software-ified into Craigslist, eBay and Amazon).
Banks have been protected from competition for decades, essentially since the Great Depression. This protection may have shielded profit margins, but it is also stagnated innovation to the point where the banking industry is the oldest dinosaur of the era. The ATM from the late 1960s was the last material innovation that actually had a positive effect on the consumer. Practically everything else was financial engineering designed to pad margins. This remained true even through the Internet boom era where practically every other industry in the world witnessed a destructively creative boom in efficiency that caused slower dinosaurs to become extinct, replaced by faster and more nimble followers of the digital Apex Predator. All except the financial services industry. Why? Most likely because of regulatory protections. Now that we have "the internet of money" (that's blockchain technology for those who didn't know), it's time for the financial industry to face that creatively destructive cleansing of the inefficient.
GAFA, or young nimble startups such as Veritseum, see that the you can not only stand in as middleman/rent seeker/gatekeeper to the banks (this is the business model of most banks, which is why this is likely the first conclusion they jump to when they have a concern about GAFA competition), they can literally remove the middleman - period! Through Blockchain technology, many (if not most) banking functions and services can be facilitated on a peer-to-peer basis, without the participation of a bank at all. This means that banks' concerns of being relegated to a commoditized, highly regulated white-label service provider are not nearly paranoid enough. We're talking, at least in eyes of Veritaseum management - full blown, absolute disintermediation. The absolute removal of the rent seeker from the capital and money services equations - reference The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. It Will Not Be Decentralized, But It Will Be Distributed.
You see, this wasn't possible 20, or even 10 years ago. Not only is possible now, it's being done on a trial basis. The reason is because the blockchain allows what is known as zero (or low) trust transactions. By minimizing or eliminating the trust necessary to conduct a transaction, you significantly increase the efficiency of said transaction. More importantly, you eliminate the need of 3rd party "trusted" intermediaries. The biggest of which are the banks in today's global banking system. Capital is a commodity. Banks don't truly supply or produce capital, they gather it from other entities and simply control it. If the capital of other individual entities are allowed to flow freely among themselves, there literally is no longer a needed function for banks. Does this sound apocalyptic or far fetched? Download the Veritaseum wallet and start trading the value of over 45k tickers in all asset classes, with leverage and without counterparty risk directly with others and solely through software and the blockchain-fortified cloud. As you do this, take note that you didn't come into contact with a single bank, broker or exchange. It's as far fetched as your next mouse click!
»
- advertisements -
If banks are not lending as they should be, there is no need for them at all. Most of the vanilla transactions could be done by virtual banks. The existing banking infrastructure could never compete given their massive overheads. I'm surprised this isnt more further along at this point.
Maybe banks will have to start paying interest in deposits.
Blockchain tech, Bitcoin and the most powerful decentralized network on the planet, early days BTChez.
Someone is blatantly shilling their book
The only problem is that there is nothing backstopping the blockchain. Anyone can come up with a new algorithm tomorrow. It is just another way of making it easier for TPTB to control your finances IMHO.
Math backstops the blockchain. As far as I'm concerned, math is more reliable than any government.
GAFA?
How about switching the names around to Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google -- i.e. AFAG
Add Microsoft, pioneer of NSA data collecting, and you get FAGMA
A F G A M
kinda has a ring of familiarity, no ?
I could have sworn that someone told me that Reggie was in prison. I guess you can't believe everything that everyone tells you.
What is 9 times larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, which stood for 43 Centuries as the tallest building in the world?
The answer is the bagged nuclear waste of Japan / Fukushima
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2015/06/nuke-waste-in-japan-is-10-t...
mass starvation 3, 2, 1
There is no need for Banks because there is no interest paid for money, hence usd is worthless
Smacks head!
Now if something just doesn't go oops with the series of tubes.
We all want "absolute removal of the rent seeker from the capital and money services equations". But how, exactly, will crypto money do this when it's waaaaay more ephemeral than fiat paper and seriously prone to hacking and criminality? What kind of 'money' needs electricity, a computer, and the internet? Human history says gold and silver are money, how about we go back to that? The fiat we all use is pretty much crypto shit right now with paper representation; what Reggie, make it even more crypto, even shitier?
Not true. Crypto is actually waaaaay more durable than fiat. That's part of the invention, it's nigh impossible to destroy or replicate.
Again, not true. You cannot get your crypto education from the tabloid rags, they simpley spread misinformation. Bitcoin has never been hacked... Never! Contrast to banks which are hacked monthly, at the most optimistic. As for criminality, that would be money my friend, not crpto. The USD is the deepest resevoir of criminal activity. Does that make it bad, or just the best currency to do business in?
There's a lot for you to learn, and I think if you do you will be singing crypto praises, like many others who took a deep, objective look.
I stated here 5 times that BTC has never been hacked, but as I used to get down voted, I gave up commenting about BTC.
Anyone not knowing anything about the math behind elliptic curve encryption should avoid commenting about SOFTWARE-BASED hacking of BTC (try to compute the computation power you would need, it's not magic nor masonic knowledge, it's math).
BTC will NEVER substitute gold, and never tried to do such thing. BTC IS NOT MONEY. It's a private, decentralized (P2P) notarization protocol. It could be used as a MEAN OF PAYMENT if two parts accord so, as promise of payments had been used so for thousand of years, the goverment regulating them or not.
BTC protocol could be implemente WITHOUT computer. It would only ralentize it substantially.
And yet at some point, either Moore's law fails or bitcoin gets cracked.
Oh boy. First you aim, then you shoot. If you start shooting in random direction you will never hit the real target. Neither of the above is a problem in Bitcoin. Moore's law is about scaling up (CPUs), not scaling out (Bitcoin). Bitcoin gets cracked when mathemathics behind elliptic curves is cracked, which is never, as it's provably correct.
When gold and silver first became money there was proably a lot of resistance from the Sea Shell Bugs as well. "What kind of 'money' needs weighing scales , chemical purity testing and a mine ? Human history says Sea Shells are money, how about we go back to that?"
Before gold and silver it wasn't sea shells it was cattle and copper axe heads. Wealth was counted in cattle and copper axe heads were "money" used in trade.
Not following. Can't the Western Cabal take down the Internet at any time?
Yes, just as the western cabal can take out their adversaries by nuking the world. That doesn't make it a viable nor doable solution, though. Even if it is done, nuking the net probably woudn't even end bitcoin as mesh networks around blockchains begin to appear.
Perhaps , but wouldn't that destroy just about everything else at the same time ?
Nope.
That's a pretty shitty investment thesis and even worse argument for owning any sort of digital currency.
I just love you Flat Earthers ... Keep fondling them eagles , they may actually be worth something ... one day ....
So, why do so many crypto currencies associate themselves with gold through imagery: the symbol of a gold coin witha a 'B' on it for bitcoin eg, and the OPs own site clearly uses gold coin imagry in its own promotional articles?
seems to me like the crypto-crowd is happy to trade on the gold-is-money schtick, and is desparate to place crypto on the same pedistal as gold, while at the same time denigrating the "goldbugs".
Cognitive Dissonance, anyone?
bitcoin has all of the attributes of gold apart from one: physical existance. This actually makes bitcoin far superior to gold in the modern digital electronic world: it can be transported for free anywhere on the planet , instantly.
Money does not need to be physical , the most important attribute money can ever have is it's ability to act as a ledger , directly representing asset ownership. This is exactly what gold did for thousands of years: it acted as a de-centralised global ledger which all parties agreed on and could be used for the global exchange of goods and services. Well guess what: now we have a digital version of that exact system , and it is far superior because it is fully programmable (smart contracts) , instant , transparent , secure and frictionless , gold cannot be transported 10,000 miles , instantly and at zero cost.
This article is hilarious.
Banks are not data houses, etc. they are ponzi schemes run by grifters in a giant plundering of the country and people for the benefit of a small group overseas.
These other companies are partners, willing and unwilling, of the banksters and their violence-puppets, government.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
Next thing you know, he'll be telling me that guillotines are industrial tomato slicers.
It's the NEW and IMPROVED RONCO Guillotine. It slices, dices, makes homemade ice cream and gets rid of those annoying ruling heads.
Now for just 3 easy payments of 39 trillion you too can start your own industrial tomato slicing business.
And all Ponzi schemes collapse right ? When they do will be replaced by what ? Lumps of gold cannot do smart contracts in bonds , stocks and commodities. However the blockchain can do all of that plus more , no banks required. Once the banking Ponzi collapses - what will it be replaced with ? Chunks of metal or a global , high speed , transparent , secure , borderless , frictionless blockchain network ? If not that then please tell us Einstein ?
ZH guffaws as the universe unfolds.
The interesting thing is threads like this used to be 8 or 10 pages long with derision.
Now it's virtually just the last to hear the echo in the ZH chamber that still don't get it but many people are yet to even know what it means.
Might be some good points here. Hard to tell, however, because he gave his editor the weekend off. What exactly does "It appears as if banks are concerned that GAFA will gain control the user by sitting in between the heaving regulated service (banking)"
All of your base are belong to us....
Refusing to address that banks control the companies that own the pipes which you hope to use is naive at best
So, I see there is a lot of misinformation permeating the comment section, likely stemming from the misinformation flowing through the tabloid rags. Here's some content from our site that may illuminate the opportunity that lay before us:
The is was written by a 12 year Morgan Stanley veteran: A User's "One Month Review of Veritaseum 1.2.0 Beta"
Luckily for those who are coming to the table late, some of those who came in early still didn't get it - at least not fully: Bitcoin 2.0 Investment Will Trump the Risk Adjusted Returns of Early Movers In Digital Currency Space - VC's Enter Vertitaseum aka The Truth!
Did you know that Blythe Masters (27 year JPM executive [3rd in charge] that created the credit default swap) quit JP Morgan to head a bitcoin company as CEO? They seem to be doing the same thing that we are - Update on the State of "Intelligent Money" As Wall Street Moves Into Space That We've Staked A Claim In Almost 2 Years Ago. Who else jumped on this blockchain bandwagon? NYSE, NASDAQ, BBVA, Goldman Sachs - and this is all in the last 4 months! See also: Using Veritaseum and Veritas to Collateralize and Ensure Physical Delivery of Gold!
Click any logo to access the relevant show or article...
21 People in the New York FinTech Scene You Need to Know About...
“The disintermediation caused by Middleton’s UltraCoin has the potential to disrupt the brokerage industry.”
"At least one of the top global money center banks have approached us, and I expect to hear from at least 3 of the top 6!"
MP3 technology combined with innovative business models have cut the music industry profits in half, and they're not coming back! I query all banking execs, 'Do you want to get MP3'd?'"
“Veritaseum is ripe for a strategic investor to approach us before the end of the calendar year, likely before we’re able to go for our Series B round. Strategic investors include payment processors, global banks, and innovative technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft or Apple.”
@Reggie Middleton
How will this, in your opinion, fit and function in a world where capital and technology are becoming more important with each passing day while individual human labor is continually marginalized?
Thanks.
The nature of human labor has to evolve as the machines that harness said labor does. In the begininning it was hunting meat and harvesting produce, then lifting rocks and wood, then using the machines that make metal and polymers, and now its using the machines that harness bits and bytes.
But what about distribution? Invention of new jobs is possible only as long as machine's capabilities are inferior to human. Machines for decades now are surpassing human capabilities in more and more fields. Production is becoming capital intensive while not creating new jobs. Labor force participation is on all time low. Its a decades trend. (Economically meaningful) Jobs are not coming back for sufficient number of people.
How will these new financial structures accommodate that fact? In your opinion and hypothetically, of course.
Thank you.
Machine capabilities are still considerably below that of humans. As it stands now, machines are quite incapable of (autonomously) making machines, tweaking machines and governing machines (that's hard and soft machines). The problem is most of the education is stuck in the industrial age, and we are now well into the information age. Engineering and life sciences should be de rigeur courses starting in Kindergarten, yet the public school system still teaches factory workers.
Reggie, we do not have a deficit of machines or potential production capacity but lack of purchasing power. Just an example of what is yet to come: Transportation employs most people. What will happen with those millions once they roll out autonomous trucks (coming in just few years)? Autonomous trucks are even easier to create than Google Car which already works.
Saying that our educational systems suck, I would agree to a large extent. But saying that we all need to become doctors, mechanical and software engineers in order to find jobs is, dont be offended but silly. Final goal of economy is to make human life better with less effort and materials. We (in the west) already have more than enough but too many lack purchasing power. Whole swats of population are slipping into low paid service sector. People are peddling shit trying to make ends meet. What will happen once McDonalds & Co roll out self-ordering and serving terminals, which also is neither impossible nor far away?
Do you support Universal Basic Income?
The lack of purchasing power comes from the lack of socioeconomic influence in the (sociopolitical) machine. This can be remedied ONLY by those who lack said power gaining a greater understanding AND grasp of the economic hooks of the system. This is achieved by knowing how it works and either inventing or taking a signficant portion for themselves. If I just gave a bunch of money to all of the poor people, most of them will end up either giving back to where it came from or get swindled for it. Most of those left would be the ones most likely to have gotten it on thier own in the first place except for the insitutional barriers that have been put in place to prevent such. The only way to create lastintg, structural wealth is participation in the power structure.
You're thinking in the industrial age. Nothing will save truck drivers jobs, just as nothing was able to save the jobs of the horse and buggy driver. The new opportunities are in programming the navigation and logistics systems of these new trucks. Security (car theft takes on a whole new meaning, you don't bust a window and hot wire a car, you hack into the network and abscond with the private keys), building out the tradenet - as these new trucks take over they will autonomously do business with each other through tradenet (a purely autonomous, commercial overlay on top of the Internet where Veritaseum value trading is the primary method of exchange). A truck bids 10 credits per space to skip ahead in a traffic jam, the cars in front of it counter with 11.25 cretit asks, a deal is struck and the truck gets to the hospital in time to save a dying girl with a kidney transplant in less time and cost than provisioning a air lift or helicopter. Somebody needs to provision this stuff, it could and should be the new age truck drive. Are your kids learning this in school?
I have three children, and they are working on Tradenent as I type this.
Your missing the point. We all take math in school, is that saying that we all need to be mathemeticians? Those who succeed will have to know how the system works.
Become proficient in serving terminal networks. That's what should be taught in school now. Instead of flipping burgers, high cschool graduates could be selling theses netwroks to Mickey d's
True Education (not academics) combined with Drive is universal basic income!
Reggie, I am very grateful for your good will and effort to answer and explain but I cannot understand how you do not see what is in front of us. Your reasoning is applicable to a very small number of people and always will be. No school, present or future, will be able to create what you are imagining. No school can create talent or arouse curiosity about particular things where there is none. As technology progresses, less and less people are capable to compete in highly specialized fields. 150 years ago, you could have 10 million horse drivers and they would all find some better or worse job based on their luck and skills. Today, you can pay 10 greatest living software engineers to design autonomous vehicle software. At any stage of development only few of them will create acceptable solutions. After that, you dont need even those 10 no matter how smart they are and software they created will churn bazillions.
What will be with millions and billions of people who do not have affinity to deal with software, trading or machines? They are surely not less worthy human beings. Cant you see that technological progress allows less and less people to take part in meaningful economy? I am not against progress but for separation of (basic) income and work. All people should be provided for their basic needs and left free to earn more if they choose so.
One more thing, I do not believe that anyone is autonomous and succeeds on their own. No matter how driven or ambitious, if you get born in the wrong place or to wrong parents, you're most likely fucked.
You are talking about opportunities available to a few million people (in the future). What about remaining billions who might be less ambitious but not lesser human beings? I am asking you for the big picture not just a tip on what your or my kids should be doing in order to succeed in the future.
Thank you so much for your elaborate answers!
Online banking was a nice innovation.
Online banking is no more an innovation than Barnes & Noble's website is. There truly are no innovations in banking since the ATM, discovered in the late 1960s.
especially in terms of security...
Grow some fucking balls man , the banks are in survival / panic mode. Most western banks are bankrupt zombies. They are fast losing their grip or ability to control anything , don't let the fear dominate... You cannot stop the future.
Amazon survives off free money, Google was built by the CIA and Facebook is a Rockefeller front. These companies are owned by the banks.
Are you really believing these companies are the future?
FFS get out of the bunker for a while , get some sun , some fresh food , it will do you some good.