Crypto Market Commentary

Are you familiar with industrial revolutions?

They’re defined as profound periods of human ingenuity and rapid technological advancements, in which economic systems and social structures are transformed.

The first was centered around agriculture, which formed the basis of society (and trade!) as we know it today.

The second industrial revolution is the one you’re probably most familiar with. It included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system. The Second Industrial Revolution also led to an unprecedented rise in the rate of population growth.

The Third Industrial Revolution, called the “Digital Revolution,” was characterized by the digitization of data and widespread propagation of information. While we’re still making sense of the effects, it’s clear that the world has shifted in the last 30 years. Central to this revolution is the mass production and widespread use of digital logic circuits, and its derived technologies, including the computer, digital cellular phone, and the Internet.

That said, the Digital Revolution lacked adequate data security; digitized records were vulnerable to modification, deletion and theft.

In a way, every Industrial Revolution has solved the major problem of the previous Revolution, hence their significance. Agriculture liberated us from our hunter-gatherer ways, but was labor intensive. Industry liberated us from labor, but it lacked efficiencies. Digitization allowed for efficiency never-before-seen, but the digital and physical were still too separated.

Today, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway, and emerging technologies, such as blockchain, are forming an entirely new ecosystem that transcends the status quo. Core components of this new Industrial Revolution include the Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), and reimagined networks of shared computing services. Central to our interests is the unprecedented advancement in communication and connectivity, which is in turn creating an exponential quantity of data (data is the new oil), renewing the need for security.

Industry 4.0 technologies are expediting the creation of a more secure data-driven digital ecosystem — the foundation of the new Digital Economy I champion so frequently. Crypto, STOs, and DeFi are just the beginning.  

Have you noticed the velocity of disruptive innovation is accelerating across all industries due to a digital transformation? What’s also apparent to me is that customer-oriented experiences are central to the new Digital Economy. Observe that data-enhanced services and products are becoming the new norm.

Look for projects that are tapping into this new ethos.

It’s in your best interests to do so. Look to history for why that is.

Those that controlled the means of agriculture (land) became kings.

Those that controlled the means of labor (industry & resources) became titans.

Those that controlled the means of digitization (computation & digital infrastructure) became the wealthiest people on the planet.

So, who will control the means of the next industrial revolution?