The number 2022, Fintech Trends, and exciting developments

Happy New Year!

2022 offers us a priceless potential with its three vibrations of Number 2!

Number 2 vibrates the strong qualities of female energy. Its strengths are all about compassion, unifying towards peace and balance. Think of 2 as harmony and teamwork, and diplomatic influence based on strong and graceful intuition.

Triple the power of number 2 and 2022 can be a year that the benefits of Coming Together and Partnerships (the 17th SDG), are recognized and lead to a New Beginning. Number 0 in 2022 signifies this starting point.

In all numerology traditions, reducing a number to a single digit is common practice. The year 2022 corresponds to number 6.

According to the Bible, 6 is the day that man and the serpent were created and therefore 6 symbolizes the creation of human weakness. Jesus turned 6 pots of water into wine at the wedding and he was on the cross for 6 hours.

In the Hebrew tradition, the number 6 is depicted in the star of David, and is all about connectivity. Six is connecting the various worlds (physical, spiritual, heaven, earth). From an existential perspective, 6 is viewed as preparation for 7, which is the point of revelation.

In the Chinese tradition, 6 (六) is considered a lucky number mainly meaning well-off (money wise) but also pure in the heart, loyal, and with high morality.

2022 offers us the potential to prepare for the next level of connectivity that balances our human weaknesses and unifies us peacefully. It is a wonderful year to start a new beginning full of Partnerships and Coming Together as the guiding principle.

The mere fact that we ended 2021 with a social media bras-de-fer between Jack Dorsey and Andreessen Horowitz about Web3, to me is telling.

There is no debate anymore that the next generation of the internet, Web 3.0, has to be built on open-source infrastructure and with fairer governance mechanisms.[1] In just one year, we find ourselves arguing whether VCs will allow this to happen or hijack it.

We are also finding ourselves amidst a race between countries about the next generation of money, as it is increasingly recognized that we need Internet Money. Suddenly, there are three main categories of choices on the table: CBDCs of many flavors, Privately issued stablecoins (mainly fiat-backed), and even Cryptocurrencies (Store-of-value, algorithmic stablecoins). Regulators, policymakers, and economists are now fiercely debating the pros and cons. Another telling fact.

For me, Openness is gaining traction, and this is very reassuring for the potential of Partnerships and Coming Together. It will also enable more of the `a l`envers` accountability that I suggested in Technologies for Digital communities and the `à l’envers` potential. I view this as the new tech-enabled form of inclusivity. Digital communities that hold accountable institutions, corporations, and other powerful entities; so that we move towards to an increasingly real-time Digital democracy and a sense of Being heard. Another way to think of this is Digital Participatory Governance rather than consolidation of Governments.

Moving now to a lower granularity, these are the main trends I foresee for 2022 in Fintech land. Several go beyond the strict borders of financial services as combining technologies and Openness is blurring the lines:

1. Every company will come up with a Climate & Crypto strategy, much like every company had a Mobile strategy. Climate & Crypto, are broad terms that include green financing, ESG or impact investing, carbon footprint, cryptocurrency payments, tokenization, NFTs, and more.
2. Financial services companies will continue to grow their stack of offerings with increasing intensity as platformification is unstoppable. This will mean that Fintech acquisitions will accelerate in 2022, both as a growth strategy of Fintech unicorns and because they have cash to spend following their IPO exits.
3. The intensity with which non-financials embedded Finance in 2021, will accelerate in 2022. Retailers (hybrids & pure e-commerce) will innovate at the intersection of AI and IOT. It will become clear that it is much `easier` for them to embedded finance rather than for financials to embedded non-financial services (e.g. travel, sports, metaverse experiences etc).
4. The explosion in 2021 in Defi, NFTs, and Fintech IPOs are a wake-up call to those that thought they had a decade or more to hide inside their walled gardens. Established financial institutions will accelerate their progress towards making Data work for employees and customers.
5. Interoperability remains a major financial services thorn globally (especially cross border within continents). The Crypto & Defi world will focus much more on increased interoperability, compared to grown up Fintechs that are competing.

These are some of the areas that I am excited about for 2022:

1. Utility tokens launched by companies with Purposeful Missions that manage to create new digital communities.
2. GovTech adoption led by a cultural shift (like the 2021 ESG trend) that incorporates strong ESG aspects.
3. Big retailers innovating at the convergence of AI, IOT, Embedded Finance.
4. Cards losing serious ground in the West as they were not designed for a digital life. Either via cannibalization from VISA & Mastercard or by new market partnerships.
5. Acquiring Know-How of new governance mechanisms via DAOs, especially those connecting and empowering small businesses and solopreneurs. In parallel, the formation of non-Blockchain Digital Cooperatives offering Banking services.

During the year I will be writing and speaking about these topics.

Disclaimer: My content is naturally full of my own biases but I stay open to your opinions and expect a fruitful discussion as the world is changing every second.

Let’s not forget what George Orwell said:

People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes.

[1] Of course, the design is yet to be determined. Some feel that a built-in self-sovereign identity must be a core element, others want no censorship, or…see Anthony Day`s poll.

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