What is the future of humanity?
This is obviously a loaded question and well beyond the scope of one article. To isolate the focus a bit further, what is the future of work for humanity?
It is something that is being discussed a great deal as we see the advancement of technology. Whether AI and robots take the jobs is still up for speculation. A lot of knowledgeable people believe this is nonsense. Of course, this is countered by equally qualified individuals who believe it will be the case.
On that end of things we will have to wait.
That said, looking into the future, far from an exact science, means preparing for a host of likely outcomes. If jobs are, indeed, in jeopardy going forward, where will people derive incomes?
Again, we are dealing with a loaded question, one that could cover a host of articles.
Micro-earning Is The Future
One possible path that I want to explode is that of micro-earning. It is a concept that is opposite to what most experience.
At present, the majority of the global population gets its income from one source. This usually requires the exchange of time for money. It is the basis of our entire economic system.
There are those who supplement this with investment income. On a worldwide scale, this is a small sliver of the population. Even in developed countries, there are few who are involved in this process. The majority who are usually do it through retirement accounts which is not really adding to present-day living standard.
Hence, the dependence upon the job.
One source that, if it dries up, is fatal to the household finances. This is the world we live in.
The future might be the exact opposite. Instead of receiving a lump sum of money every week or two, individuals will receive thousands of payments each week. This is the world I can foresee for Web 3.0.
How this is earned will come from a number of different sources. Web 3.0 is going to require infrastructure? Interaction is necessary. Liquidity is a must. Services that people utilize will be needed.
All of this offer potential areas of revenue for individuals who get involved.
Tokenization Of Everything
Many have surmised about the tokenization of everything. This is likely the case going forward. However, this present another opportunity that rarely gets discussed.
Infrastructure is something that the masses do not often discuss. It is a highly technical world, one where the geeks excel. Historically, it was the domain of Mega-Tech, those which build enormous systems to provide the pipeline for all online traffic.
The introduction of blockchain did little to change this. It was still something that requires a great deal of technical expertise, something that eliminated the majority. At the same time, it was a significant investment, something that most cannot make.
Things are changing. Systems are rolling out that are easier to set up. The bridge between highly technical and the average person is closing. At the same time, advancements are being made to where nodes can be run on a Raspberry Pi. This reduces the barrier to entry a great deal.
It also opens up the door to micro-earning.
For example, what is one took a few hundred dollars to provide a number of Pis as infrastructure. This generated revenue on a daily basis, to the tune of a few dollar per month. Over time, the person not only got the investment back but also generated a steady stream of income.
This is micro-earning.
We can take this from another angle.
As the world generates more data, storage is required. Web 3.0 seeks to decentralize a portion of what is created. This can be done by developing systems that utilize individual storage space. In other words, excess hard drive space on laptops and, potentially, smartphones could be utilized.
Again, we see the process where one could earn a little bit of money for providing storage space. It is a concept that could also apply to compute.
In other words, resources individuals have could be put to use.
Staking And Activity
In the past, I wrote how I view staking as the primary replacement for labor income. This means that people will take their digital assets and stake them in some way that generates revenue.
Here is where a shift in thinking is necessary.
Our tendency is to have the single focus. This is natural since we seek to replace what we already have working. Therefore, if one is earning $1,000, the idea is to find something that can match that.
If we think about it, $1,000 can be broken down in many ways. This could be replaced by 10 things that produce $100. Or 100 initiatives that pay $10. How about 1,000 that toss up $1?
Notice the last one. Getting involved in something that pays out a dollar isn't that difficult. It is much easier than finding something that pays $1,000.
Years ago, when Hive had just two coins and the entire reward system was through there, I forecast that we would see the day when people were receiving dozens of tokens. This came into being with the introduction of Hive-Engine.
Today, it is not uncommon for people to have hundreds of payments flowing in each week. A lot of this is tied to activity. As people engage, they earn small rewards. Over time, this can add up.
We Are All Bankers
This is the formula banks have used forever.
It is easy to get caught up in the fees investment banks generate on taking a company public. That is not, however, the norm.
Most of banking is done in very miniscule increments. They make a small amount of many on many transactions. There are million of account holders depositing money, being paid an interest rate that is lower than the return the bank generates.
Over time, all this adds up.
A bank is not going to capture the attention of Wall Street on the spread generated off a $1,000 savings account. That said, when it is done millions of times, we start to see some big numbers.
Web 3.0 is going to present the same opportunity. There are ways to automate some processes, such as being an infrastructure provider, that "pays you while sleeping".
Bankers see opportunities everywhere. This is the mindset that Web 3.0 needs. Over time, there is the chance some individuals will have thousands of micro-payments entering the wallet on a daily basis. They will vary in size yet, in total, add up to a nice sum.
Hive is on ecosystem that is already providing this. Over the next few years, more opportunities are going to show up.
We will see how quickly people grasp onto this concept.