Another Rise of Crypto Assets

For a long time, I've held a rather indifferent attitude towards the application of two types of crypto assets: First, payments based on crypto assets (such as stablecoins); second, purchasing tokenized stocks or tokenized physical assets on-chain. (Note: Here, I specifically refer to scenarios where humans, not AI, use crypto assets. I've shared in previous articles that I'm very optimistic about AI using crypto assets.) For Chinese users living in an environment where internet payments are already fully integrated, I really don't see why we still need payments based on crypto assets, given the prevalence of WeChat and Alipay. In fact, even if crypto assets were legal in my country, I don't see any advantage they offer over WeChat and Alipay in everyday payment scenarios. Using crypto assets for transfers is slower than WeChat Pay and Alipay; transaction fees are higher; and wallet usage and key storage are more complex... Not only in my country, but even in the US where crypto assets are fully legal, I don't see any particular advantage. From what I've observed, aside from some companies in the crypto ecosystem aggressively promoting crypto payments in conjunction with AI, crypto payments still don't seem to be mainstream in the daily lives of Americans. This is even more true for purchasing tokenized stocks or tokenized physical assets: Here, many people can legally buy stocks in other countries, so why risk breaking the law by converting fiat currency into stablecoins and then using those stablecoins to buy tokenized stocks? In the US, it goes without saying; they can legally and compliantly purchase all assets through any means, so why go through the roundabout way? Of course, tokenizing stocks and trading them on-chain enables 24/7 trading, but this is only meaningful for high-frequency traders. For most ordinary retail investors and long-term investors, the significance seems limited. A while ago, I was listening to an audio program where an expert on internet trends mentioned this scenario: Nearly 2 billion people worldwide still lack internet access, let alone access to modern financial services. In the future, these people will be interconnected through Starlink, and upon gaining internet access, they will immediately and seamlessly access crypto assets. This group will be the native users of crypto assets and a very considerable potential user base for the future. While I thought this prediction was logically sound, it still felt too far removed from my own experience. I found it difficult to imagine their situation, so I treated it merely as a vision and expectation.

Underground Argentina: Jewish banks, Chinese supermarkets, young people giving up and the middle class falling back into poverty (see the reference link at the end of the article)"—it was only recently that I read an article on "Dongcha" titled "Underground Argentina: Jewish banks, Chinese supermarkets, young people giving up and the middle class falling back into poverty" (the original article can be found in the reference link at the end of the article), which greatly changed my perspective on the two encryption application scenarios mentioned above. In this article, the author describes how ordinary people in Argentina, a large South American country suffering from rampant inflation, use crypto assets (more accurately, stablecoins) to protect their assets, generate remote income, and conceal their tax information. In this country, the use of crypto assets is not some lofty idealism or a cool trend, but a crucial means of economic survival for everyone from the wealthy to ordinary citizens. This robust and widespread use throughout society is the most solid and substantial application scenario for technology, and the most vital and convincing evidence of its vitality. If stablecoin-based payments are already a necessity in a country like Argentina, what will be the most convenient means for the country's emerging middle and wealthy classes to invest and manage their finances in the future? Undoubtedly, it will be on-chain assets based on blockchain technology. In that virtual world, they are not bound by banks, brokerages, or precious metal exchanges. They can freely buy and invest in any asset in the crypto world through a single wallet, including native crypto assets, tokenized government bonds, tokenized stocks, tokenized derivatives, tokenized precious metals, and so on. This is similar to what's happening in my country today: many young people no longer use banks or brokerages, but instead directly buy precious metals and index funds through Alipay and WeChat. Therefore, for the people of Argentina, stablecoin-based payments and the purchase and investment of RWA assets are undoubtedly necessities. In the past, we mainly focused on ourselves and developed countries. In these countries, due to their highly mature and developed financial systems, we seem to see no high-frequency use cases or necessities for crypto assets in daily life, but only as investment or speculative assets. However, for countries like Argentina, and even more underdeveloped nations, crypto assets may play a role in their daily lives that is unimaginably important and fundamental. Argentina's example also illustrates that today's crypto assets and applications are no longer high-end gimmicks, but rather inclusive technologies and applications rapidly spreading globally at an unimaginable pace.