Dateline: April 15 2033
If you have enough to live comfortably, money is just a game. A game with real-life consequences.
Money is arguably civilisation’s greatest invention. It enables the exchange of value for a common unit and the easy setting of prices. If the price of three bushels of wheat is one barrel of ale and all you have is five bags of potatoes, then trading can be tricky. Money lubricates the process and makes the market work efficiently. Prices can vary with supply and demand.
Back in the day money was based on valuable commodities such as gold and silver, but soon became based on trusted information, like banknotes or entries in a ledger. Ultimately money became purely digital data, such as hash codes in a crypto wallet or numbers in a smartphone app. Advanced technologies made money more accessible, more liquid, and more convenient than ever, but also introduced new risks and complexity. Tech like decentralised finance (DeFi) has changed the rules of the game.
For business to flourish and markets to thrive, you need more than money; you also need investment. Even workers have pension funds, which are collective investments, so we’re all investors now. With globalisation and international trade capital and finance need to cross borders as easily as goods and services — more complexity and risk. And don’t ignore trade imbalances, taxes and tariffs. It’s war, but it’s still just information.
The most powerful country in the world isn’t the one with the biggest army, it’s the one with the most money. Countries, companies and citizens all play the money game. The global financial system — the big money game — has become so complex we’ve outsourced it to smart machines, what some money hacks call AI-Fi. Nobody truly understands how it works — it just works. As long as I have access to the internet I know what my wealth is worth. But if you’re marooned on a desert island without Starlink your financial assets are worthless. We have to trust the AI, because what other option is there?
Don’t be misled, you still have to make tough choices. Money is a harsh mistress. You have to add value and produce more than you consume if you want to accumulate wealth. But at the end of the day money is just a game. A game without rules. How you play it is up to you.
Are you ready to play?
• First published on Mindbullets 17 April 2025
Digital banks defy DeFi
Banking on apps instead of crypto
Dateline: October 8 2025
Decentralised finance (DeFi) has come a long way since bitcoin and Ethereum started the crypto revolution. DeFi now has many thousands of participants and billions of dollars in “locked up value” on hundreds of networks and blockchain protocols. But it’s still not mainstream.
Part of the problem with DeFi is its complexity and continuously morphing nature. With its main focus on decentralisation, censorship resistance and security, protocols such as Uniswap aimed to create a seamless interface for users to trade cryptocurrencies on the blockchain. Without respecting borders or regulators.
But the lack of centralised regulation and trusted authorities means anything goes in DeFi. Programmers and coders are designing an alternative financial system, but there’s no-one to turn to if it collapses. No fiduciary oversight, no deposit insurance. Just the network. Which makes it all a bit Wild West, not the kind of place you want to risk your hard-earned savings in. That’s why digital banks are offering an alternative — smartFi.
Recognising the need to provide tech-savvy young customers with programmable banking apps that could be customised to their unique requirements, digital banks began to open their systems. Initially only for tech professionals, innovative banks gave open apps and programming interfaces to their clients, so they could build their own smartFi apps on their smartphones.
Now, if you’re smart enough or have access to a tame developer, you can have your own banking and finance system tailored to your needs, including smart contracts — and still rely on regulated currencies and trusted custodians to safeguard your finances.
Will smartFi be able to defy the rise of DeFi? Only time will tell.
• First published on Mindbullets October 6 2022
Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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