Generation Flux: Differing Opinions On Economical Technological Advances Across Generations

The opinion of an ordinary 20 year old kid is more important than the opinion of a famous 94 year old.

Bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared,” he said. Trading in cryptocurrencies is “just dementia”, the other one added.

What is a commonality for these two blokes? Aside of them being good friends and billionaires, they are also older than the Empire State Building and Golden State Bridge. As you might notice, lots of time has passed since these two were in their diapers; lots of water has flown under this bridge since the Munger’s and Buffet’s lungs started consuming our precious oxygen.

Although, they were a favorite target for haters and jokers from the crypto community after making these statements, I kind of understand their viewpoint. At 30, I find myself being whacked by the technology achievements and all the crazy changes that keep bombarding us almost on daily basis. Sometimes you just wish if it all could pause for a moment and have things stay as they are, as you understand them.

But that is not possible of course. There are more than 7 billions of humans on this earth — that is a lot of brain cells working non-stop. Although much of them are wasted on useless activities, there are still plenty of them left to innovate and move the civilization forward.

It is safe to assume that the gray cells in our skulls are wired differently if we come from different places or times. People in America value (some) things differently than people in Asia. People in their 90s have a completely different understanding of life from the people born with a smartphone flash shoved in their faces from the minute they are born. Mum couldn’t help it, a minute old human tends to bring lots of Instagram likes.

It is also safe to assume that the preferences and behaviours of one demographic group has more influence on the future of certain subject matter than the other. In the rows at the beginning, I showed what 90 year olds think of bitcoin. Judging by the statistics, these two are already in the overtime on this planet, so are their opinions. Let’s see what does the generation that actually has lots of life in front of them think — the one-click, on demand, Instagram generation.

According to a new survey from Bankrate, which found that 5 percent of millennials (defined, in this case, as those aged 18 to 37) say bitcoin is the best place to put money they won’t need for 10 years or more. Only 1.2 percent of Gen X-ers (ages 38 to 53) favor it for long-term saving, and less than 1 percent of boomers (ages 54 to 72) do.

I would bet my pinky finger that more millenials know more about bitcoin than about mutual funds and NPS.

Millennials are the single largest generation in the history of the US. Some other studies from Fundstrat say that 92% of millennials do not trust banks. 70% of millennials do ALL banking online. By 2020 millennials will control $7 trillion. Penetration of millennials is going to drive demand for digital assets.

First experience this generation had with the traditional banking was in 2008. As you might recall, that was not a stellar year for the good ol’ bankers. Pair that bad taste they left in the millenials mouth with the habits and entitlements this generation is used to have (thanks to the helpful uncles and aunts like Google, Amazon, Facebook), with the near-instant delivery of goods and services from the virtual to physical world and you get one pissed of generation that is on a lookout for a dramatic change.

And most of them has already found that change — bitcoin. See, when you are splitting your life between two parallel universes, virtual and physical, you tend to hear about and run into things from the digital world a 90 year old investor doesn’t.

And if you grew up accustomed to make things and your mood change with a swipe of hand, bitcoin fits perfectly in your life philosophy. Why wouldn’t money transfer, no matter geographical distance, be almost instantaneous, via your holy grail device — smartphone?

Conclusion

The kid with the smartphone will very likely be an inhabitant of this planet in 20 years. A 94 year old will be a pile of dust in 20 years. Who will affect the world of the future more — a living being or a pile of dust?