The development of Internet finance is like building a castle in a swamp

Crazy Review : The author of this article, John Biggs, is the CEO of Bitcoin startup Freemit. He compares the development of Internet finance to building a castle in a swamp. At first glance, it seems unrealistic, but in order to achieve a better financial future, all participants should unite to eliminate all unfavorable factors and open up a territory suitable for the development of blockchain. Otherwise, we can only watch the huge opportunity slip away, and then continue to spend decades waiting for the next opportunity to appear, and then start the tedious cycle of understanding, exploration, and development.

Translation: Annie_Xu

Today’s Internet finance is like the Cambrian explosion of life, transforming personal and B2B financial applications and services. From financial management robots to equity trading platforms and mortgages completed in minutes, we live in a world where middlemen are gradually being replaced by code.

But the code is on a shaky foundation. Zenefits was built on the foundation of a conservative payroll company, which sued it. Many financial companies still use random security systems to send CSV files to central custodians. Hackers stole $80 million from SWIFT, and a spelling error found by a middleman exposed him.

Talking to an fintech startup is like talking to the king of Swamp Castle.

"When I first came here it was still a swamp. Everybody told me I was a fool to build a castle on a swamp, but I did it anyway, just to prove them wrong; but it sank into the swamp; so I built another one, and it sank into the swamp; I tried again, and they burned down and collapsed and sank into the swamp as well. But the fourth one succeeded; and you have got the strongest castle in all England."

Why insist on building a castle on a swamp?

Tying modern applications to legacy infrastructure is a fool's game, and forcing Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to play nice with legacy players is as much a pipe dream as desktop Linux. Banks can allow cryptocurrencies that play by their own rules, as long as the banks are the direct beneficiaries. No matter how many forts you attack and flags you wave, you won't defeat it.

Then we can summarize the answer and open up new territory. This is what we are doing now, but we have to do it quietly.

The “it’s just a blockchain” crowd has died down because they’ve realized there’s no point in trying to appease them. Ethereum is like Hansel, it’s extremely popular, but nobody understands it except the true enthusiasts.

Then we get to the diehards. These large Bitcoin-centric companies are pumping out tiny ideas. Remember that 21Inc, which raised $116 million, has already released its flagship product, the Raspberry Pi.

What is the end result of the groundbreaking work to realize Bitcoin? What has become of the endless dream of realizing a clean, unified currency? Has it gradually fallen into obscurity in the pursuit of the true face of Satoshi Nakamoto?

Either the cryptocurrency community - not just the community of enthusiasts - unites to drain the swamp and search for hard land on which to build castles; or stand still and wait for changes in ideas.

We need fiat currencies to emulate Bitcoin, we need new Internet financial applications to enable cross-border services, make currencies interoperable, make transactions fairer and faster, and ensure that rules are followed by the world. We are looking for ways to connect all Internet financial applications and create a network.

But we are not alone, we are just one of many networks that can build a network of value on this new land - Stellar, Ripple, Ethereum, and of course Bitcoin; but the key core is still integrating crypto technology and fiat currency.

We have our own approach, and we don't know who or what will emerge and dominate. Our white paper describes the ideas we hope to express to the world. What we can be sure of is that we are experiencing three major trends at the same time - a multipolar world, an explosion of Internet financial applications, and extremely high broadband and smartphone coverage, and we have the opportunity to take advantage of these, not only for the success of the company, but also for the benefit of all mankind.

We have to stop thinking like the King of Swamp Castle. Maybe the king can keep repeating and waiting for unexpected surprises, but this approach does not work for businesses.

The entire industry should eventually get out of the swamp, otherwise it will collapse, decay, and then fall.