Everything is fine...
Sunday Serendipity - Volume 10
Satire done well can be an effective way to get a message across. Coinbase really nailed it with their recent marketing campaign.
It’s a Mary Poppins style musical, set in the backdrop of a dystopian world where everyone is getting laid off from their white collar jobs and becoming delivery drivers. It portrays massive inflation and inequality, with the wealthy taking off to Dubai since the living conditions have gone to complete shit.
As everything around them crumbles, the streets are filled with dancers cheerfully singing to the tune “everything is just fine”. Welcome to the degenerate economy.
The degenerate economy — that’s the theme of this weeks Sunday Serendipity…
Even though the campaign was targeted at the UK, there’s a similar storyline playing out in many other countries:
Wage growth has stagnated while cost of living continues to rise.
I see reports saying most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have enough savings to cover a $1000 emergency. It’s fascinating that in such a wealthy country people are struggling to get by.
According to the Coinbase campaign, the traditional financial system is not working for many — and crypto is a way to solve that:
When it got banned by TV networks, CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted:
“If you can’t say it, then there must be a kernel of truth in it. We welcome the attacks and any other attempts to censor this message, as it just helps it spread.”
And it wasn’t just the commercial, they also plastered Oxford Circus with ads carrying the same message:
And taxi cabs too:
Of course they want more users on the platform, but the underlying sentiment speaks volumes no matter which idealogical camp you sit in or whether or not you believe in the future of crypto.
Historically speaking, if you invested in BTC and held onto it, there have been plenty of gains. The issue comes with all the memecoins and fake pumps on social media.
We live in a non-linear world where a minority of risk takers are getting outsized returns. Howard Lindzon coined the term “degenerate economy” to describe the shift:
In this new economy, people are making high-risk moves and embracing a more speculative approach to finance, where digital wallets on your phone hold everything from investments to assets with just a few taps.
But the 'degen economy' is more than just taking financial risks. It’s a lifestyle shift that includes education, new experiences, and activities centered around digital platforms.
Whether it’s learning about markets through meme-driven communities or engaging with novel forms of digital ownership, the 'Degenerate Economy' represents a bold, fast-paced way of interacting with the financial world, where anything can happen and speculation is a form of entertainment.
The last line is spot on. Speculation is a form of entertainment. There are a million memecoins being produced a week and Coinbase is having difficulty regulating it all:
Not only have we seen this massive spike in memecoins, Americans are also falling more in love with long-shot sports betting. Pulling on a similar thread as the degenerate economy,
describes this new era as the jackpot age:That taste for outsized risk has seeped into everyday culture. Wage growth has severely lagged compounded capital, causing ordinary people to increasingly see their best shot at real upward mobility in negative EV jackpots.
Online gambling, retail meme stocks, sports betting, and crypto memecoins all testify to the phenomena of exponential wealth preference. Technology makes speculating effortless, while social media spreads the story of each new overnight millionaire, luring the broader population into one giant losing bet like moths to a light. We’re becoming a culture that worships the jackpot and increasingly prices survival at zero.
When does the bubble pop
Over the past few years, “Buy Now, Pay Later” options such as Klarna and Afterpay have become ubiquitous with online shopping.
The fact that you can take out a loan to buy a burrito is insane.
All this feels eerily similar to 2008 when mortgages were being given out with little verification of income and ability to pay them back. People are racking up debt using Buy Now, Pay Later for things like botox and concert tickets.
brought up the growing number of young people who have resorted to begging for money on social media platforms. In her essay “Financial ruin, but make it content”, she describes the rising trend of creators asking for engagement just so that they can make it into the TikTok creator fund.It’s the digital version of standing on the street corner with a paper cup begging for spare change.
Let’s see how the next few years will unfold as we progress through the Great Reshuffle. The Vladimir Lenin quote seems applicable here: "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"
Welcome to the degenerate economy, where everything is just fine!1
See you next week,
<3 B
P.S. - I’m hosting a cycling and writing retreat in Spain next Spring. This came up as an idea a few weeks ago and now that some people have shown interest I’m starting to plan out the details. If you’d like to ride bikes, improve your communication skills, and connect with some new faces, just fill out this form and I’ll be in touch with more details. 🚴🏼
I can’t get the Coinbase jingle out of my head. It might be my new favorite commercial, right up there with the German Coastguard: