5 Big Changes in the Next 10 Years - SUNDAY THOUGHTS
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Hey DEFI TIMEScommunity,
It is commonly said that every ten years, a new technology comes up.
In the 1990s, it was the internet.
In the 2000s, it was social media.
In the 2010s, Bitcoin and blockchain emerged.
If this development is going to continue, we could have a new big technology emerging RIGHT NOW, at the very beginning of the 2020s. But what could it be?
The emergence of these technologies is referred to as a "Black Swan Event," which means that they significantly impact society, but you cannot foresee them. This fact makes it extremely difficult to predict the future.
Today, we will give it a try nonetheless. This special SUNDAY THOUGHTS article will give you my best guesses of how the future will look like 10-20 years from now. Most of these technologies already exist today, but they are all in their infancy.
Before you read on, take a moment and think about the future. How do you think the future will look like in 10-20 years? Does it excite or scare you?
We at DEFI TIMES love talking about the future, and I hope you are excited as I am to read this article!
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Hundreds of Thousands of Currencies
Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are going to change the world in the coming years. While many people believe that there will be one big winner among them, I think differently. I think we will see hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrencies existing simultaneously.
Dozens of blockchains will host thousands of tokens, and every blockchain will be interoperable with the other ones. Most websites and apps will launch tokens; users will be rewarded for their attention and time with those tokens.
It will not matter whether you pay with Bitcoin or digital Dollars in your favorite grocery store; any currency will be accepted everywhere. There will be no need for fraudulent currency exchanges at the airport. Even if you travel to Thailand, the same set of currencies will be accepted in every store.
Central banks will still create their own currency, but they will have a lot less influence on us. I don't want my money to be diluted by a criminal authority.
Do you?
Dying Nation-States
Nations-states are dinosaurs. Especially in the West, governments tend to move slow and cannot catch up with technology and innovation's rapid growth. Additionally, we are witnessing the emergence of online communities. People instead identify themselves with their gaming community, meme groups, or, in our case, crypto Twitter.
The younger generation doesn't believe in authorities anymore, and this trend is likely going to continue. This development will reach a point where online communities create their own citizenships, passports, and so on. People will start to create their own tax system, rules, and laws that make the new nation-states way more attractive than the old ones. Suddenly, people will realize that you don't even need physical land to found a new country.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, and blockchain in general, only accelerate this movement. Suddenly, we can vote on the internet, create our own monetary system, and consider ourselves independent from our former home country.
Maybe this development takes more than 10-20 years, but it is a trend that you cannot stop. The most influential authorities of the past are about to fade away due to decentralization.
Decentralization vs. Centralization
Decentralized organizations will crush central authorities in the coming years. Decentralization is not limited to money or nation-states, but it can be applied to almost any part of the world. Think about the economy, especially on the internet. Currently, Facebook, Google, Amazon, and a few others rule the world. They own your data; they hold your personal life, your business (and your soul?) depend on them.
Think about your online business. How much impact do these companies have on it? You rely on Google and Facebook Ads, you use G Suite for your infrastructure, and you use AWS for your website and customer data.
Amazon or Google could shut down your company if they wanted to. In my opinion, this is extremely dangerous.
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
I don't want to say that Google or Facebook have incentives to do so, but we will undoubtedly see problems with them in the future.
The trend of decentralized organizations will likely take away the power of large corporations and give it into the people's hands. Projects like Filecoin are an excellent first step in the right direction.
In the future, only you will own your data, your customer's information, your right to be seen on the internet. Nobody knows what this future will look like. The idea is certainly worth billions of Dollars.
Mass Unemployment
The rise of AI will seem sudden, like all innovations. First, it happens gradually, then suddenly. We are currently in the "gradually" phase.
Some studies claim 80% of today's jobs could become obsolete within the next 20 years. If this turns out to be accurate, we could face severe unemployment across all social classes.
Unfortunately for those people, the situation will not become much better, so we need ways to support them. A popular solution is the Universal Basic Income (UBI). Proponents of UBI think that nation-states need to intervene and help the unemployed in such a situation.
I believe that the rise of cryptocurrencies will bring a solution to this exact problem. In 2017, Steemit became a very popular social media platform, where users got paid for likes and attention. The rewards came from inflation of the native digital currency "Steem." In this way, Steemit created a digital alternative to UBI.
Mass unemployment could potentially be solved by blockchain technologies, rewarding people for all kinds of activities. People could be rewarded for posting pictures (like with Steemit), running, and so on.
Governments won't need to impose any form of UBI upon us because the free market will naturally solve our future problems.
Virtual Reality
Who wants to live in reality when there are better worlds to live in? Yes, you heard that right. I believe we will prefer to live in virtual worlds sometime in the future. Not because reality is boring but because VR is better.
There are no limits; you can do anything you want, and combined with blockchains, you can possess things in the virtual world. There will be property. There will be value. You will meet your friends in VR, maybe even your significant other?
Okay, maybe that's too futuristic. But VR will be big, and we will notice the effects in the real world. This might get to the point where real estate prices go down in value because you prefer to buy properties in the virtual world.
Why would you buy your mansion in Zurich for $20 million when you can have the same estate in the virtual world for 1/100 of the price?
Reality will change a lot in the coming years, whether in the real world or the virtual ones.
Now, let us know what your perception of the future is. We are always happy to discuss futuristic topics with you. Feel free to DM us on Twitter!
All information presented above is meant for informational purposes only and should not be treated as financial, legal, or tax advice. This article's content solely reflects the opinion of the writer, who is not a financial advisor.
Do your own research before you purchase cryptocurrencies. Any cryptocurrency can go down in value. Holding cryptocurrencies is risky.