One of the leading arguments against crypto is its extreme volatility. Between April and June 2022, Bitcoin's value more than halved. Established companies like Coinbase, a popular crypto exchange, have announced layoffs. Crypto sceptics argue that the crash has revealed crypto as a Ponzi scheme. While some of the criticism is well deserved, the focus on price volatility isn't as strong an argument. Instead, it reveals a misunderstanding of what different crypto assets represent.

The Main Argument Against Crypto

Most projects are barely five years old. Eventually, different coins are meant to serve different functions. Today, they all more or less act as startup equity with the distinctive properties of having liquidity and price discovery from the start.

Crypto is a Young Industry

<ul><li>Startup equity is a core concept in business. Every type of startup falls into this category. However, traditional startup equity has no liquidity - you don't invest and expect to flip your shares a month later.</li><li>Crypto is different because a token can start trading right away. But early liquidity has benefits and drawbacks.</li><li>Everyone from central banks to Wall Street is exploring blockchain technology because the features of cryptocurrency enable cheaper to operate and more dynamic markets. Yet, the downside to enhanced efficiency is extreme volatility.</li></ul>

Equity, Liquidity, and Volatility

With Cryptocurrency, everything is borderless and the total addressable market is huge. Success could mean significant value accrual to its token, but the project could also fail. The dilemma is increased because most digital assets can’t be pigeonholed into traditional categories, making valuation much harder. Crypto investors can't rely on established metrics such as a stock's price-to-earnings (PE) ratio. Most digital assets are a hybrid and change from one category to another throughout their lifecycle.

Everything Is Bigger on Blockchain

Price swings give important information to founders and investors, especially during the crucial adolescent stage of any startup.
Universal access, immediate price discovery, and greater transparency contribute to scams and shady behaviour in crypto. But with crypto, even the scams are transparent.
The crypto industry has a lot of growing to do and the current downturn clearly offers some hard lessons. Investors and entrepreneurs are learning not only what is possible in this new ecosystem, but also what isn’t.

Volatility Isn’t Always Bad

One of the leading arguments against crypto is its volatility. In the wake of the most recent downturn, critics have doubled down on this point. But the argument misses an important insight about how crypto assets differ from those in traditional finance. While different coins are meant to serve different functions, today they all more or less act as startup equity — and often serve as hybrid assets, treated as commodities, currency, store of value, and incentive for the validators that make a project function. Unlike traditional equity, crypto assets have liquidity and price discovery from the start. This does mean that crypto markets are more sensitive to signals and changes. The overlooked feature of this, however, is that price swings communicate important information to founders and investors, and builds previously unseen levels of transparency into the system.

crypto

Cryptocurrency

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

What Skeptics Get Wrong About Crypto’s Volatility

You can change how your brain works by how you move your body. And when you're looking to resolve a tricky conflict of any type, you're better off doing it while moving around. Research shows that locomotion increases both the motivation and the likelihood to resolve interpersonal conflict.

Physical movement spurs mental movement

In the human conflict-resolution world, we tend to spend the vast majority of our time going deep into the analysis of our problems and very little time moving.Thinking about your needs and position and the needs and position of your negotiating partner is important, but people have a tendency to get stuck at this analysis stage. Literally getting up and taking a walk together helps break this impasse. Physical movement jogs mental movement. When our bodies are active, repetitive thinking patterns lose some of their grips and new solutions occur to us.

The best way to resolve conflicts

The best way to resolve professional (and romantic) conflicts is on your feet. 

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

problemsolving

Problem Solving

communication

Communication

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

The Best Way to End a Fight, According to Science: Take a Walk Together

The tools that exist today for tracking and managing financial operations are outdated. Furthermore, payment complexity is increasing as businesses become global. Large companies try to keep up by creating homegrown solutions with many engineers and operations specialists. For example, companies like Airbnb and Uber have 200+ employees tracking their real-time financial health. Then there are the breakdowns in these payment operations, such as when Citibank accidentally wired $900M to a hedge fund.

Companies need better software to manage day-to-day finance

<ul><li>Payouts send money outside of the business, such as bank wires and ACH, paying vendor invoices, creating transaction logs, etc.</li><li>Payins bring money into the business by accepting various payment methods, optimising payment routes and authorisation rates, identifying fraud and failure, allowing for rewards, gift cards, payment splitting, etc.</li></ul> The payment acceptance methods - credit cards, e-wallets, crypto, gift cards, bank transfers - differ by company and geography and can take months to implement. For payouts, a bank transfer involves a series of manual approvals.

Payins and payouts are mostly manual

Financial Operations (FinOps) could be an emerging software category with a huge opportunity to rethink the way businesses manage their money. As a result, it is expected that a number of companies will build solutions. Both payins and payouts can organise workflows into layers on top of the existing primitive workflows. These layers are:<ul><li>Moving payments</li><li>Ledger/reconciliation to record payment entries and connect to the ERP.</li><li>Dashboard - the ability to see and search transactions</li><li>Intelligence - the ability to set alerts and catch errors.</li></ul>

The opportunity to build

Building in this category requires building trust and reducing friction in the onboarding. The product needs to be highly reliable and likely needs to be added on top of existing products at first. Setup cannot be overly complex, as this is what the buyer wants to avoid. To get to market, early design partners and product marketing are critical. Leadership across the company should find it easy to understand and get insights into the real-time financial health of the company.

Building principles

As companies continue to expand globally and new payment methods are created, there is an increasing need for a new generation of  “financial operations” (FinOps) to help businesses manage their money.

“Financial operations” (FinOps) is an emerging software category with a massive opportunity to streamline, automate, and optimize how we move money, while giving the entire organization a real-time view of a business’s financial health.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

business

Business

How to Move Money in the 21st Century

<ul><li>The use of credit cards originated in the United States during the 1920s, when individual firms, such as oil companies and hotel chains, began issuing them to customers.</li><li>References to credit cards have been made as far back as 1890 in Europe. Early credit cards involved sales directly between the merchant offering the credit and credit card and that merchant's customer.</li><li> Around 1938, companies started to accept each other's cards. Today, credit cards allow you to make purchases with countless third parties.</li></ul>

Credit Cards: The Beginning

Credit cards were not always been made of plastic. Throughout history, there have been credit tokens made from metal coins, metal plates, and celluloid, metal, fiber, paper and now mostly plastic cards.

The Shape of Credit Cards

The inventor of the first bank-issued credit card was John Biggins of the Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn in New York. In 1946, Biggins invented the "Charge-It" program between bank customers and local merchants. The way it worked was that merchants could deposit sales slips into the bank and the bank billed the customer who used the card.

First Bank Credit Card

<ul><li>In 1950, the Diners Club issued their credit card in the United States. The Diners Club credit card was invented by Diners Club founder Frank McNamara as a way to pay restaurant bills (1950). A customer could eat without cash at any restaurant that would accept Diners Club credit cards. Diners Club would pay the restaurant and the credit card holder would repay Diners Club. </li><li>American Express issued their first credit card in 1958. </li><li>Bank of America issued the BankAmericard (now Visa) bank credit card later in 1958.</li></ul>

Diners Club Credit Card And American Express

<ul><li>Credit cards were first promoted to traveling salesmen for use on the road. By the early 1960s, more companies offered credit cards by advertising them as a time-saving device rather than a form of credit. American Express and MasterCard became huge successes overnight.</li><li>By the mid-70s, the U.S. Congress begin regulating the credit card industry by banning practices such as the mass mailing of active credit cards to those who had not requested them. </li></ul>

The Popularity of Credit Cards

When was the first credit card issues? Credit has been around a long time and has come in the form of metal coins, metal plates, celluloid and more.

history

History

Who Invented Credit Cards?

This seems like unbeatable, but history has had wealthier people during the times when it was hard to measure the amount of wealth a person had.
Just having gold bricks and calculating their dollar value does not provide an accurate reading of wealth in ancient times, when currency didn’t exist.

Richest People In History

Marcus Licinius Crassus was a value investor in ancient Rome, the richest man in Roman history with a net worth of 170 million sesterces (ancient Roman coins worth a quarter). His thirst for acquiring wealth was a legend in ancient times.
More recently, John D Rockefeller had around USD 300 to 400 billion, and J.P. Morgan had enough wealth to stabilize the economy by providing a loan to the government in 1893.

Wealth In Past Centuries

Emporer Musa of Malian Empire showered gold on his people and build new mosques every week. His wealth caused ripples in the entire region, hyperinflating the economy.
Likewise, there have been many billionaires that have caused bankruptcies and windfalls of entire countries, much before our times.

Unknown Billionaires

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are rich, but they're nothing compared to some of history's richest people.

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Who Is the Richest Person Ever?

Girl Scout cookies are beloved: They are also part of successful marketing and youthful entrepreneurship.
From January to April every year, over a million scouts in the U.S. sell about 200 million boxes of cookies. The sales are more than Oreo sales.

The success of Girl Scout Cookies

<ul>
<li>Girls Scouts is an organisation for girls ages 5 through 18. The organisation combines life skills, STEM, the outdoors, and entrepreneurship with civic engagement and deliver essential girl-led programming.</li>
<li>Girl Scouts sell cookies.</li>
<li>There are 12 essential types of Girl Scout Cookies, but not all cookies are available everywhere.</li>
</ul>

Facts about Girl Scout cookies

<ul>
<li>In 1917, a troop of Girl Scouts in Muskogee, Oklahoma, held a cookie sale to fund troop activities. The original cookies were home-baked. </li>
<li>Other troops followed suit, and in July 1922, the American Girl magazine published a recipe for basic sugar cookies, intended for troop sales.</li>
<li>In 1934, the Girl Scouts of Greater Philadelphia Council sold a commercially baked version.</li>
<li>By 1951, the basic cookies were a sandwich cookie, a shortbread cookie, and a Thin Mint.</li>
<li>Other cookies came and went, but the shortbread (Trefoils) and Thin Mints are enduring classics.</li>
</ul>

The history of Girl Scout Cookies

In the late &#39;40s, 29 different bakeries were making Girl Scout cookies, but they have been trimmed down through the years. Today, Girl Scout cookies are produced by two bakeries: ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers.
During the prime cookie season, the nation&#39;s Girl Scouts do about $800 million in total cookie sales. This makes the cookie program the largest financial investment in girls annually in the United States.

Sales during the cookie season

The proceeds are divided between the council and the particular troop, where it goes toward activities and projects. A girl or her family buy the boxes they sell, which means it is essential to actually sell them.
Selling these cookies is the first career move for millions of girls. They have to learn how to handle money and market themselves and their product to customers. But, the girls are not always the ones doing the selling, and parents often dread this season.

All of the net revenue from cookie sales directly benefit girls

Besides exasperated parents who feel responsible for the sale of the cookies, health advocates object to the cookies as just another sign of hyperconsumption.
But people love Girl Scout cookies - partly because of taste and part because of the nostalgia. They remind you of childhood. They are also limited to a season of the year. But the biggest appeal is people wanting to support the girls themselves. You want the girls to build their skills and succeed with confidence.

People continue to support Girl Scout Cookies

Here’s why some Girl Scouts sell Tagalongs and some sell Peanut Butter Patties.

health

Health

How Girl Scout cookies captured the heart of America

A bureaucracy is an organization that has a complex structure of multilayered systems and processes in order to maintain uniformity and control within the organization. 
Conversely, how the bureaucracy runs, inevitably causes the decision-making process to be slow. The bureaucracy stems from the effort to govern and watch over these organizations through systems that are formal and rigid. They place high regard on procedural correctness and hierarchical procedures.

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is not the same as governance or administration. Although they may seem synonymous, bureaucracy and administrations have different objectives.
<ul>
<li>Administration - they usually direct organizational resources towards a specific and objective goal like generating profits or handing out services;</li>
<li>Bureaucracy - they ensure procedural correctness at all times irrespective of the circumstances and goals.</li>
</ul>

Bureaucracy vs Administration

<ul>
<li>Bureaucratic methods are outdated and have a backward-looking perspective, which is causing conflict with entrepreneurs and innovators who prefer forward-looking methods</li>
<li>Having a hierarchical decision-making process slows down efficiency</li>
<li>They have a rigid system that encloses the practice of protectionism such as being unable to fire someone with low performances due to the arduous termination process</li>
</ul>

Criticisms Towards Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy Definition

Money is not a fixed entity. It is a complex of data points, challenges, and opportunities you encounter and have feelings about. Your decisions about money affect your emotions and behavior.
There are three factors you need to know about the psychology behind your relationship with money:
<ul>
<li>Emotion have a big role in your relationship with money.</li>
<li>Anxiety and avoidance create a vicious cycle in relation to money.</li>
<li>Psychologically, family and childhood will continue to influence you when you make money decisions.</li>
</ul>

The psychology behind money

The most important emotions about money to become aware of are fear, guilt, and shame. Without awareness, these emotions will interfere with your rational thinking.
<ul>
<li>Common fears include fear of having too little money, fear of looking foolish, fear of causing envy.</li>
<li>Guilt is about feeling bad about a negative impact you've had on others. You may feel guilty because you have more than your friends, or are not charitable.</li>
<li>Shame is feeling troubled when you don't live up to your own values. Shame related to money involves feelings of not having enough money, avoiding thinking about finances, avoiding doing what you're supposed to do with your finances, feeling ignorant, and overspending.</li>
</ul>
Other emotions that influence your handling of money include envy, greed, and over-excitement.

Emotion and money

Mental health problems can have a significant effect on your finances.
<ul>
<li>Excessive use of alcohol leads to poor judgment and inattentiveness to finances.</li>
<li>Depression can cause a loss of employment. People with depression also lack energy and a sense of purpose.</li>
<li>People with a mild expression of bipolar disorder can experience states with increased energy, decreased inhibitions, exciting plans, and are overstimulated to spend.</li>
<li>Adults with ADHD/ADD have the ability to pay intense attention to tasks that really interest them while screening out the tedious or mundane.</li>
</ul>

How mental health influences your finances

All families have their own psychology of money: what they can talk about, who should be in control, how important money is.
You may have experienced subtle pressures to correct the injustices perpetrated or suffered by previous generations. You may feel internal pressure to go against the family money mentality, or you may the first in your family to succeed and may want to give back to the family while neglecting your own financial needs.

Family and childhood influences of your finances

Emotions can be useful. They tell you what matters to you. 
Mild anxiety is motivating for example. Harness your emotions to attend to what you need to face.

Harnessing money emotions

Emotions and family history drive our individual relationships with money and personal finance. Learning about the influence of emotions, the impact of family stories and how to avoid avoidance helps you face financial realities and feel and be safer and calmer both psychologically and financially.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

mentalhealth

Mental Health

The Psychology of Money: What You Need To Know To Have A (Relatively) Fearless Financial Life

Money cannot buy happiness, but there is a new kind of association found between money and our perception towards it: comparison with other people's wealth.
Money by itself is a tool that can provide us with food, shelter, comfort and clothing. The connection between our happiness and our own wealth is overshadowed by the connection between our happiness and other people's subjective socioeconomic status.

The Apparent Wealth Of Other People

Conventional wisdom states that relationships and experiences produce happiness, not just money. This thought process, prevalent for decades, is busted by new research, which says that happiness is dependent upon what we think we have as compared to others, and not how much they have.
Happiness, success and wealth are not individualistic or personal, but is a broader, collective pursuit based on our own perception for other people.

Wealth Is Relative

Money may not lead to happiness, but according to a new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Michael Kraus, our perceived wealth and status relative to others does affect how happy we are. 

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

A Key Factor in Well-Being: Others’ Apparent Wealth

While early holiday shopping can snag you discounts and the best selection, you are most likely to get the best deal just before holiday shopping. 
Retailers need to move holiday-specific merchandise because they are seasonal items. You can probably score deals 20% and 30% deeper in December, while the same article will be slashed by 50% or 60% in January. Not every item should be left for the last-minute sale, but fun and unnecessary items can be bought as the holidays get closer or even post-holiday to stock up for other events.

Myth: Shop Early for the Best Deals

Coupons are sold in lots to allow couponers to stock up on the best deals.
While coupons are great to save money, it does not make sense to spend on coupons in order to save. Coupons vary greatly by geographic location and store, and may not apply to your geographic area. Instead of buying coupons, get the Sunday paper for better ads, download an app or keep a coupon binder to stash extras.

Myth: Buy Coupons for Huge Discounts

It makes sense to stock up on non-perishable items such as soap and canned goods.
However, buying wholesale perishable items like fruit and milk might mean it goes to waste if you can't consume it before the expiration date.

Myth: Always Buy in Bulk

Leaving money in your checking account might make you spend more than you planned, simply because the money is available. The money in your checking is also not earning any return.
Instead, lessen the temptation. Try budgeting carefully enough and transfer the extra money into savings and retirement accounts. By only keeping what is needed in your checking account, you won't feel tempted to spend more.

Myth: Leave Extra Cash in Checking

Instantly stopping your bad spending and saving habits may set you up for failure and leave you feeling discouraged and less motivated to improve your finances.
Changing your spending habits should be taken on in smaller steps. For example, if you like to eat out, save it for Saturday night.

Myth: Quit All Bad Spending Habits Cold Turkey

Purchasing less expensive items could also mean buying lesser quality, meaning you will have to buy the same article more often.
Knowing how long something should last versus how much you'd like to pay, can balance quality and price.

Myth: Cheaper Is Better

Credit can come in handy on some big purchases. Rather than using your debit card, it may make better sense to pay with your credit card, then settle the amount immediately. 
This is because credit cards often offer more protection for larger items, such as extra insurance against damage or theft, or reward points.

Myth: Debit Is Always Better Than Credit

Consumers need to protect themselves when dealing with banks. Don't let the bank make financial decisions for you.
Signing up for a new credit card because you were pre-qualified will not always end in well. Despite good credit scores and money in the bank, only you know your real financial situation.

Myth: Trust the Bank

Your parents were in their prime in a very different social and economic climate. What was good for them may no longer be true. 
By managing your money differently to your parents does not make you ungrateful. It acknowledges that your parents managed money in a way that was best for them, while you should do what makes the most sense for you. Thank your parents for giving you solid advice when it comes to financial responsibility, even if you have to handle your finances differently.

Myth: Mother or Father Knows Best

Want to improve your financial situation? There is plenty of info out there - but much of it is bad. Learn about common money myths that could cost you.

What Skeptics Get Wrong About Crypto’s Volatility

The Best Way to End a Fight, According to Science: Take a Walk Together

How to Move Money in the 21st Century

Who Invented Credit Cards?

Who Is the Richest Person Ever?

Elizabeth V.