Why the past, present and future all come down to the same thing.
In the olden days, we used to go to shops and buy things with cash. There were stores aplenty, but the selection was pretty much the same. There were essentially five different types of trainers we could buy to look cool and who doesn’t remember the Adidas Masters or the first Nike Airs? It was a simple time, long before the internet and even mobile phones. Then things just sort of exploded.
Suddenly there were dozens of different brands all providing for ever tinier nuances on the same themes. Memory foam provided an adequate alternative to air pockets underneath our heels and other brands infused colour into what was previously a purely white affair. Markets became so fragmented that shopping nowadays is a hugely analytical affair, and choosing amongst hundreds of different products on offer can sometimes be a stressful thing.
Then we started shopping online, foregoing the hassle of going downtown, parking and dealing with snooty salespeople. Cash sort of disappeared. Nowadays, rather than receiving a discount for paying in hard currency, we are presumed to be Narcos when trying to rid ourselves of spare change. Armed with our smart phones and working Wi-Fi, we have instant access to anything we may wish to buy with deliveries guaranteed the following day.
What’s next? Clearly, we are going to be buying things without having to access an external device. Think of all the bent necks from looking at our screens whilst scrolling through reviews on Amazon Prime about electric screwdrivers (which are unequivocally an essential tool of any civilised household). It can’t go on like this. Surely very soon we will all just have something implanted into some part of our body and consumption will simply involve the blink of an eye in a world that is virtual.
All we need is a system so that our transactions can be verified as genuine. That’s called blockchain. We also need a method of payment. That’s called a cryptocurrency. The other thing we need is an avatar through which we can enter the so called Metaverse. That’s called an NFT. What does any of this have to do with ESG? Absolutely nothing, just like the ESG score and you tell me whether Tesla has saved the environment by producing electric cars, or destroyed the world by mining the ingredients to produce batteries? If you want to save the planet, use less one-way plastics. If you want to invest in the future, get some exposure to digital assets and Liverpool FC is still on course for the quadruple.