This is a concept that is difficult to grasp on the surface. Nevertheless, it is something that is vital since it is changing everything we know about the world around us.
There is little debate about the direction things are taking. Our lives are becoming more digitized while moving towards the next horizon, virtual. It was a trend that started about 30 years ago only to pick up steam the last decade.
Going forward, the pace of change is going to blow people's minds. What took place the last 20 years is a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to what we will see in the next couple.
For this reason, many of the limitations we presently see are being eradicated. Our world is rapidly having them remove, pushing us towards a time where much of what we have is without limit.
Of course, there are always limitations yet this is really only erected by computational speed and bandwidth. As long as both are available, we can see how the barriers are falling.
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Technology is changing things at such a pace that humans cannot keep up. This is nothing new however. For example, the number of trades on the stock market increased exponentially over the last 30 years. Is this because more people got involved? That is a part of the equation, but a minor one. The biggest reason for the jump is automated trading. Computers simply can handle a lot more transactions than people and they are ever aware of the indicators that lead to making a trade. They are not distracted by bathroom breaks, a phone call, or another trader stopping by to chit chat. They are on duty all the time, ready to act.
It is estimated that more than 80% of all stock trades are from these bots. This means that humans play a small role in the overall activity. Where is the limit? More computers and programs can be set up to trade. At the same time, each year we are seeing more computational power being generated.
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Another example is data. The above chart shows the path that data created took along with the expected growth rate into the middle of this decade. Everything we do these days leaves a data trail. Most of it is taking place without our recognition. In fact, much of it is taken and duplicated.
Our mobile phones are recording our location. This means that either Apple or Google is seeing that. Yet, many applications such as Waze also use the GPS. Hence, multiple companies are receiving the data. For some, they have 10 or more applications on their phones, all sucking out the same information.
Compare that to how things were 40 years ago. Just consider the amount of information stored on a single hard drive and figure out how many filing cabinets it would require.
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Cryptocurrency is really taking things to a completely different level. The reason why this is so disruptive is because we live in a world that is based upon money. Most of what we do requires it. This is how we transact.
When Bitcoin was introduced, the world changed. Many will say that money was digital before then. That might be true. However, Bitcoin never existed in the physical form. It was created in the digital world. Thus, we saw money that was truly digital.
Another breakthrough happened at the same time. For the first time, maybe in history, anyone could create money. The power to do that suddenly was in the hands of everyone.
What started out as one currency, Bitcoin, is now more than 6,000 as listed on Coingecko. There are probably double that number which are not big enough even to register there. This is only going to grow over time.
It is said that the Internet is the world's biggest copy machine. Whatever is on it gets duplicated. When we think about it, cryptocurrency is nothing more than data. Operating in the digital world, it can be duplicated the same as any other form of data.
Doesn't this mean that it is going to be worthless? After all, reared in a scarcity world, we know that is what creates value.
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As noted earlier, we are rapidly moving to a different world with new models and rules. When the amount of data grows, it does not become less valuable but, rather, more valuable. This is something we witnessed over the last couple decades.
Some call it the "new oil". Ironic since oil maintains its price based upon the supply/demand model. When scarcity is achieved, prices go up. That does not happen with this form of "oil". Instead, the value keeps rising in spite of the exponential amount of it that is available.
Since money is how we transact, a unit of collaboration, we can expect this to impact all areas of life. The next couple decades will not see the progress in computation and communication slowing down. In fact, many are working on pushing the pace to an even higher level (6G). This means that ability to generate data will increase significantly.
We saw what happened to information, music, video, and communication when that was digitized. Now we are witnessing it taking place with money. That is going to unleash an even greater push towards limitless since funding is going to be available for most ideas.
In the end, we will only be held back the computation power and bandwidth.
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