compliance, art and even everyday life as it develops. And we can all agree that the most disruptive concepts don’t always get off to a smooth start - people were doubting the World Wide Web, for years Amazon was just an online bookstore and so on. Does crypto have flaws? Of course it does. It’s highly volatile, it’s not regulated for the bigger part of it and it’s way too easily accessible for people who do not have the slightest idea about investing. The main point crypto critics make is that way too many people have lost their savings buying Bitcoin, Dogecoin or a number of other tokens available on the market. But so have people who invest in stocks with little to no research done beforehand, or people who try their hand at FX and Binary Options, as well as a multitude of other “old school, tried and tested investment products”. The same principles apply to both crypto and stock investments - you research the company/ token, the people behind it, the utility and future potential and youmake a call. The only difference is thatWall Street is now upset that a bunch of Gen Z and Millennials made fortunes and Investment Banks and Funds were too late to the party. I vividly remember BTC being at $3000 and a whole floor of Equity traders telling me I’m a fool for even looking into this. Two years later BTC hit an all-time high of $69,000. The NFT market has absolutely exploded over the last couple of years. 2021 saw $40b in sales and 2022 saw over $37b just for the first five months. They are an interesting case and I personally think NFTs sit somewhere in the middle of investment assets and art. To me, they are what you make of them. I have managed a number of NFT projects from concept to secondary market and they are all unique in their own way. Some are pure art and the sole purpose people buy them for is to own a unique piece of digital art, whilst others are certificates for ownership of an IRL or aMetaverse asset. Then there’s the membership cards to exclusive clubs and let’s not forget about pure degenerate crypto NFTs that are just pixelated or cartoonish objects which are well hyped by marketing and fear of missing out (FOMO) and have absolutely no utility. We keep hearing the word utility in the blockchain space, to the point where it’s starting to mean nothing. Utility is again what you make of it and the value is what the community and the hype around it make it to be. Love it or hate it - crypto and NFTs are here to stay. They are the future, or at least the early stages of what digital assets and money will look like in a few years. My personal view is that you either get on board and adapt along the way of this journey, while trying to make web3 a stable, working, space and reap the rewards of it in a few years, or you’re the next person who will one day look back and think: “Why did I miss out on this?” Since early 2022, I have also launched an assisted trading service that aims to become a web3 fund in the not-so-distant future, having over 40 private individuals investing capital for me to freely trade on a profit & commission basis. People keep asking me the same thing every time there’s a market crash or someone goes bankrupt in the field: Is crypto dead? Is it done? Have we seen the end of it? And my answer is always “no”. It’s only just beginning. For years and years, we were used to the same old asset classes and investment products that the media and the movies portray - Wall Street, the London City, stocks, shares, bonds, gold … you name it. Have they all had their massive recessions and issues? Most of us vividly remember the 2007-8 crash that forever changed the face of modern economy, and alongside that, the lives of many. Mine included. Every asset class goes through such turbulent times and the main argument when delving into the future of blockchain is that it’s not just a financial market - it’s a cutting-edge technology that is changing finance, 35 VISION & STRATEGY www.ceotodaymagazine.com
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