The wallet metaphor for tokens is antiquated and limits the way people think about tokens.

You probably never leave home without your wallet. Most of us have had the same one for a long time, fraying at the edges a little bit. It’d be odd to have four wallets lined up near the door that you choose from before you walk out. It wouldn’t make sense to move your cash to a new wallet everyday.

How do you sit with this thing in your pocket?

You need one convenient place to keep cash and grab it quickly when needed. You pull cash out of your wallet and physically hand it to another person to make a transaction. Largely, you prove that you own the money by virtue of it being in your pocket.

Tokens are unique and the wallet metaphor fails.

Even though it’s become common in the industry, we don’t call Fetch a wallet. Fetch is a hub that makes it simple to use financial products on the blockchain.

There are going to be hubs for other needs also, collectibles, utilities and so much more. People can and should use multiple products to serve different purposes with their tokens. To understand why the wallet metaphor doesn’t work, it’s helpful to think about a couple of the ways that tokens on the blockchain are unique.

First, tokens aren’t stuffed into an application like twenties into a wallet. They live publicly on the blockchain for everyone to see. An application securely stores the private key to make it easy to prove ownership and make a transaction, like sending tokens to another person. This is very different than the wallet stuffed with cash. It also makes it pretty easy for people to switch between products based on what they are trying to accomplish with their tokens.

The wallet metaphor reinforces a centralized and locked-in mentality to people. With fiat, people are actually pretty locked into a wallet, bank or brokerage. This isn’t true in crypto and carrying this mindset forward from the old financial system risks limiting how transparent, efficient and awesome the new financial system can be for people.

Second, smart contracts make tokens programmable and offer a future of infinite financial options. Today, we’re on the verge of offering better versions of the financial products we already understand. Want to earn interest, get a loan or make a trade with your tokens? This is just the start. In the future, massive experimentation with smart contracts will create whole new ways of leveraging tokens that we can’t yet imagine.

There isn’t a direct analogy to this today as people are generally restricted to what is offered by their bank or brokerage. The wallet metaphor fails here again and imposes a send and receive transaction mentality. People need more than a wallet to stuff tokens into. They need a simple way to use and benefit from the financial products smart contracts offer.

Wallets can’t do this!

Fetch isn’t a wallet. It’s a hub to make using financial products on the blockchain simple. We’re starting with token trading, taking a multi-hour process and simplifying it into 2 easy steps and 2 minutes. As Fetch expands to more financial products, we’ll remain focused on simplicity and the unique benefits crypto offers. Most definitely, not a wallet stuffed with tokens.

Wallets represent the world as it exists today, not the one we are building. Let’s help free people’s minds from these limitations and help them imagine the new world. Let’s drop the metaphors that reinforce the old world and help people see the world as it will be, not as it is.

In Summer 2018 we’re releasing Fetch. Sign up to be one of the first to get access and follow us to stay updated on the journey.

And don’t forget your wallet when you leave the house today!