What does the concept of blockchain remind you of? A distributed ledger? An emerging industry? A new Internet technology? An investment opportunity? Is that all?

I have been asking myself the same question in the past several months. Is that what blockchain is all about?

Let’s start with the Internet.

What if there were no BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) providing online payment services? No UnionPay? No other online payment services? Can you imagine what the Internet would be like?

Years ago, one could only download songs, chat on QQ (a free instant massager developed by Tencent), play games on the Internet. That’s all. No online payment. No online shopping. No remote training.

The value of the Internet was unlocked when Alipay and other online payment services came into being. Now Chinese people buy virtually everything on the Internet, from purchasing a BMW to a dozen eggs. Even street food vendors are using WeChat Pay.

But could this be an illusion?

Have you ever thought of the fact that the money you deposit to your Alipay account is not cash anymore? It is actually just an IOU for you to consume in different scenarios.

But is the current online payment as sustainable as the Internet? The Internet is borderless. The current online payment system, though enables payments beyond borders, is yet to be universal.

Blockchain in itself is an Internet-based value transfer system. It could evolve into an indispensable part of the Internet. Bitcoin just represents a great application of blockchain tech.

The core of blockchain tech lies in its distributed database management, which could be perfectly compatible with the Internet, a decentralized network. Theoretically, blockchain is able to store assets on the Internet forever. Additionally, as blockchain is borderless, assets stored on it can flow globally.

Assets would be valueless without fluidity. Gold is no different from dust if could not be traded. Blockchain, however, enables assets to flow freely on the Internet.

At 30 years old, the Internet has changed the world, but the best is yet to come. Blockchain will play a vital role in evolving the Internet and change the world in a way we cannot imagine yet.

Everything Is Moving Toward the Internet

Transfer of Information The Internet makes it easier for us to share info, making recorders, CD, broadcast old-fashioned. Transfer of Life Style Now we cannot live without the Internet: shopping, Facebook, Uber, food ordering. We even buy a dozen eggs on the Internet. Can you imagine what life would be without the Internet? Transfer of Assets A growing number of people are managing their assets on Alipay, WeChat or other online payment businesses. But the hard fact is that it is barely different from depositing money in a bank.

As blockchain is decentralized and transparent, assets stored on it could rise tremendously. One dollar in bank is still one dollar, but one dollar on blockchain, given time, could be worth ＄1000. (e.g. bitcoin and ETH) Most people, however, remain unaware of this.

Exchange your fiat money for blockchain assets would be like exchanging dollar for gold before Bretton Woods System crashed.

Assets on blockchain is as valuable as gold. Fiat is just like an IOU issued by the PBOC. It would be a wise thing to do to transfer your assets on the Internet in the long run. The only thing you should worry about is that whether such an asset will be widely accepted in the future.

It’s safe to say that assets on blockchain do not have a life cycle. It offers us an exciting opportunity to get rich living in a world dominated by fiat currency. It will be an irreversible trend to transfer assets on blockchain.

As of today, I added the top 40 currencies on https://coinmarketcap.com and the total number is ＄26.7 billion. If blockchain is the future of asset management, how come its market cap is so low?

This is just the very early beginning.

Human Marching Toward the Internet

Actually, I am pretty nervous to say things like this. I realize that those who first read such an expression would find it too far-fetched to be true. But I believe anyone who has read A Brief History of Mankind by Yuval Noah Harari will accept it as a future fact.

Moore’s Law predicts that the Internet and chips are able to build a model of human brain in less than 30 years. When assets are totally digitized, it’s nothing strange to transfer our consciousness to the Internet. It’s as natural as you would move to another country when you’ve already transferred all your assets there.

When Is the Best Time to Sell Blockchain Assets?

I guess this is what most people are interested in. If you regard Renminbi as cash and blockchain assets an investment, then sell them for cash when you believe you’ve earned enough.