Why You’re Craving Alternative Investments
This week I am going to depart from talking about the App. Lets talk about the environment today! Why the Acquire App matters, why the technology we use changes the game… all this matters because of the times we live in. The writing is on the wall, inevitable is the word I hear most these days. Timing is everything and here lets address a bit of how we see the world. It seems obvious to us. Comment and tell us what is obvious to you!
MIGRATIONS
We are witnessing two of the biggest migrations in human history. Each year the largest animal migration on the planet occurs during the Chinese New Year, of the 1.4bn people in china, more than 420million people travel nearly all at once, but this isn’t even close. We are talking about finncial migrations that are affect every person on the planet. The shift of wealth from traditional technology vehicles to advanced vehicles is occurring at a lightning fast pace, all while generational wealth is being transferred to the maturing younger generations at a higher rate than we have ever seen in history. These shifts have drawn immense public focus towards the financial system. This focus is coming from a very progressive point of view, scrutinizing and challenging the way money and monetary systems work, and most importantly how they affect you!
A SHIFT IN APETITE
These new and now dominating generations are making decisions unlike any generation before them. Advised by thousands of real time data points, virtual wealth managers, crowd sentiment, and artificial intelligence, this generation is simply more informed. Todays Investors wield more power than ever before due to better, more accessible technology. However one thing stays consistent across generations, the “animal spirits” continue to influence investor psychology, emotions and actions; except now various movements and actions can be eased by a single tweet or intensified with a reddit post. We have seen this in increasing frequency for example with Robinhood and Reddit, and Elon Musk and well… everything he decides to comment on.
“If I’m not in it, I can’t win it…”
— Yogi Berra
Todays market is more diverse than ever before, more informed, moving faster, and everyone is searching for the same thing; ALPHA. Wether you are a first time investor, enthusiast, day trader or seasoned value investor, we are all looking for places to put our money that has strong potential to outperform a given market. A certain part of everyones portfolio is safe and designed to retain your hard earned money, but another portion of your portfolio is likely aimed to grow that money beyond your normal income potential.
CAUSE & EFFECT
Todays job market has drastically evolved from the days where a single source of income is viable. I believe this stems from two primary root causes; 1. Desire to achieve the American Dream, hard work = success, family elevation and prosperity and 2. the slipping of confidence in the economies ability to provide long term single job security with room to advance. These causes have resulted in the explosion of the diverse multi-income stream economy powered by companies like Uber, Upwork, Postmates, and Task Rabbit.
Alternatively younger generations have begun to crave a better way. How can I increase my given earning potential with the skills and time available? Their answer rang loudly; We need access, we want control, we need choice, we need alternative investment vehicles with real growth potential. Why is it that we have more freedom to gamble our entire bank account, than we do to invest?
I would argue that “the modern financial enlightenment” began over a decade ago with a foundation built on blockchain technology. This catalyst started with Satoshi Nakamoto, and bitcoin has engaged the masses to ask questions, learn, challenge, and desire more than the limited choices available in our public markets. Cryptocurrencies, NFTs, crowd-equity, have continued to explode for more than 10 years because of you. With advancements in technology, and regulators catching up to further enable new products in a safe way, we are now looking at a new economy owned by the people. Money and investments will likely cease to be different things in our lifetime.
THE CURRENT PARADIGM SHIFT
With this demand for alternative investments we need to define what “alternative” means today, and who can participate?
Access is the key! Alternative investments are primarily found in what is known in the legal profession as Private Placement Investments. These make up more than $80Trillion dollars of value compared with global public stock markets reaching $52Trillion . Let’s illustrate the make-up of Public Vs Alternative opportunities. The public markets consist of “primary investments”… limited choices for investment that have already achieved a significant amount of their growth. investments into assets like; Tesla or Apple equities, various Bonds, and cash or cash equivalents. These limited options are bundled and unbundled into numerous products to achieve different investment goals. On the Flip-side “Alternative Investments”, the $80Trillion dollars of private placement assets, are traditionally only available to industry leaders, family offices, and high net-worth individuals. Individuals defined as, “only those deemed sophisticated or accredited investors (I.e. those with a net worth exceeding $1 million, not counting their residence; or a personal income of at least $200,000)”.
The assets making up this Alternative, Private Placement market range from, equity or debt positions in high rise downtown buildings or clean energy investments, to equity ownership in the latest iteration of the incredibly successful Fortnite video game. Believe it or not, today these can be unlocked and brought to retail investors. This will fill the public demand for alternative investments. To put it simply, the roughly $70Trillion dollars of value, risk, and opportunity, is open to just 5–9% of the population. No wonder why retail investors crave alternative investments! That explains the incredible parabolic growth and global, multi-national interest revolving around Blockchain and the emerging asset classes the technology enables.
THIS MATTERS, NOW, NOT TOMORROW
Without blockchain and forward thinking regulators, like we have today, all working in conjunction, we will not progress economically. Our current system is stifled by rent-seekers, inefficiencies, and built on ancient, patched, and re-skinned technology. Not to mention the limits on access for individuals, and the complex barriers to entry. In order to bring you the opportunities that todays market craves we must listen, challenge, innovate and collaborate towards equal opportunity markets that include retail and accredited investors alike. The risks and challenges stifling the public equal access issue have been largely solved and alleviated by both tech and regulatory innovations. While investing in anything is never risk free this rapid progress we are witnessing is leading us to a more inclusive market of investment opportunities.
The American dream is like a fire, and by fostering innovation and pushing for the best products in the world, that fire will burn brighter than ever before. The worlds largest and safest financial products and markets reside in America. Having been built by brilliant minds from around the world, these people found an environment that empowered them to push the limits and compete for the best outcomes. It is clear that our country is here today because of our trailblazing mentality.
This quote by John F. Kennedy acknowledges that real growth is the outcome of vision and real work. We have to relentlessly look for better financial tools, and can’t forget the important role that regulators play in balancing investor protections with a truly world class environment for innovation. Today we all have the opportunity to take control of our future, we are expanding our financial system and its markets with the greatest minds in the world, through new technology that connects all people to financial opportunity globally! One of the most important discussions we will dive into is global asset market development and how being symbiotically connected both socially and financially will become one of the most important global movements of the century.
Join Our Discord, Follow us on Twitter, get an early access spot, and watch for the big announcements! (early participants in Acquire’s Public round will receive an NFT Gen-1 Access card! stay tuned for details.)
_________/ Written by: Founder/CEO, Brian Harstine > Twitter \________
