Its just not about money, honey!
Sorry for the catchy title. But this post is about that.
Have you heard of PewDiePie a.k.a. Felix Arvid? Or Roman Atwood? Or Lily Singh? Or Smosh? Well. Neither had I. Till recently. They are one of the highest earners on YouTube. Forbes recently published the highest grossers on YouTube channel and this is how i know them.
We might have a good laugh viewing their channel, or sympathise with them or just dismiss them as a prank. It is but anything for them. For example, PewDiePie grossed $15 million through his YouTube videos; Roman Atwood grossed $ 8 million, Lily Singh, $7.5 million, and Smosh, $7 million. What may be a prank or a funny video for you and me is serious profession for them, earning serious money. Just like a banker or an accountant. And you help them earn that through your likes. For them the likes that they ‘earn’ are as valuable as they money that we earn, and they want to ‘bank’ it for their future.
Imagine a situation. PewDiePie approaching a high street bank for opening an account. If you have been there, you know how difficult (well! almost impossible) to explain a banker that you earn your money through youtube prank videos and that you want to safe keep your assets - which in this case happens to be the ‘Likes’ on your channel. I can bet, he will be thrown out royally from the bank premises.As we become more digital, we should be ready to ‘rethink’ banking and the things that we can bank. Our cherished treasures are no longer physical assets - like bullion or a piece of art or currency. Increasingly, our assets are being dematerialised. PewDiePie, with over 22 million views, 1.1 million likes and 53 million subscribers) will do anything to preserve this treasure. These are his assets, and it would continue to provide his income for a long time. What happens, if his account is hacked? How can he preserve his assets?
What can I do with my digital assets? My cherished digital photos? Or a movie file of a unique moment? Or even my bitcoins? How do I preserve them?
While banks are busy thinking digital, they are still thinking digitalisation of physical assets? Last time, when I made this suggestion to one of my clients, I sure got some strange looks. And I quickly shut up. At least my business model is still very much meeting the immediate needs of my clients which happen to be digitalisation of physical and tangible assets. I am waiting for the first bank to offer a digital wallet/safe deposit where I can store my precious digital assets. I don’t think I need to wait very long for this. Who knows?
