Your Bank Might Disappear
"I am deeply skeptical that some of these super entrenched financial institutions like the ‘too big to fail’ banks will be able to adapt."
Omid Malekan, who used to run crypto at Citibank and now teaches at Columbia, is a regular on my podcast.
But this one might be our best yet.
No, we didn’t talk about dog coins and rocket emojis. (OK. Maybe a little.)
Mostly we talked about the $3 trillion that banks make every year by basically doing nothing.
Banks Will Be Forced to Adapt
Thing is, when Omid talks about crypto, he's not really talking about crypto.
He's talking about why your bank can randomly fire you as a customer without explanation, or why sending money overseas feels like you're living in 1985.
Every time you use your credit card, you're basically saying, "I agree to give some random companies 2-3% of my money just to spend my own money."
Think about that.
If you make $100,000 a year, you're instantly giving away $2-3,000 just for the privilege of buying stuff. It's even worse if you're a small business owner - those fees might be eating up 15-20% of your actual profits.
But here's where it gets interesting.
Want to know why banks take three days to "process" your wire transfer? Because they're making interest on your money during those days.
Multiply that by trillions of dollars, and you start to understand why banks aren't exactly rushing to speed things up.
But something's changing.
The regulatory cloud that's been hanging over crypto is lifting. Gary Gensler is on his way out at the SEC. BlackRock and Goldman Sachs are diving into "tokenization" - a word that sounds nerdy but actually represents a market bigger than all the world's currencies combined.
It's not JUST about Bitcoin - it's about the entire financial system being rebuilt from scratch.
Remember when we all thought the internet was about email?
This is like that.
We're all focused on crypto prices while the actual infrastructure of money is being reinvented.
Then I asked Omid what happens next.
Omid thinks we'll see major companies launching their own blockchain systems - imagine WhatsApp or Disney having their own financial networks.
BUT with a huge (and surprising) difference from banks. (Listen to the whole thing.)
What Happens Next
Look…
This isn't about whether crypto will change finance. It's about how much of the current financial system is going to survive crypto.
Will some people still get rich off meme coins? Sure.
But that's like focusing on Pets.com during the early internet. The real story is what's happening under the surface.
By the way, if you're wondering why your bank suddenly cares about blockchain - now you know.
They're not innovating. They're terrified.
Click here to listen to the whole podcast and see WHY they’re terrified.
