Fund Thesis
Our Purpose
Investing in blockchain technology as an instrument of social change is a bold strategy. It is a paradigm that empowers entrepreneurs and fuels technologies, not for the world that we live in today, but for one that enables a better tomorrow.
At Ausum, we have embarked on an ambitious journey towards financial and social inclusion by harnessing Web3. The decentralization of the internet will change how we organize intelligence (both human and machine) and capital globally.
Fund Thesis
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Cryptoassets, such as bitcoin and ether, have appreciated faster than any asset class in history.
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That appreciation is a reflection of the paradigm-shifting potential of blockchain technology in the fields of finance, real estate, supply chains, digital identity, and beyond.
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With the capacity to take a stake in both the companies in this space, and the technology underlying it, the opportunity for early investors is unprecedented.
Three catalysts for change through Blockchain technology
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Blockchain protocols enable the core value propositions of blockchain technology to be realized. Similar to the foundational role of TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP in the World Wide Web, protocols like Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, and Filecoin underlie all innovation in the blockchain space.
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But unlike the first generation of internet protocols, with blockchain technology it is possible to invest directly in the growth of underlying protocols and infrastructure through tokens, as opposed to just the applications being built on top of them by companies.
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A large proportion of the value captured over the coming years in this space will be at the foundational level.
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Importantly, the ability to earn tokens by providing value in each respective network enables anyone with an internet connection to create wealth for themselves.
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Financial Inclusion:
Bitcoin and the cryptocurrencies it has inspired enable the near-instantaneous transfer of value to anybody, anywhere in the world with an internet connection and digital wallet. Unlike with traditional financial services, the barrier to entry for blockchain-based financial tools is incredibly low, and purely educational. Tools for the under-and-unbanked are boundless.
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Digital Identity:
Since the dawn of the World Wide Web, identifying individuals online has been an insurmountable struggle. There's a graveyard of failed digital identity startups. The advent of blockchain technology, however, appears to be the missing key to solve the problem plaguing online identity and beyond.
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Privacy:
Though blockchains are transparent in their record of transactions, they enable personal privacy online (in a growingly Orwellian world) through protocols like Zcash and features like zksnarks. Platforms like Orchid will facilitate a freer, censorship resistant Internet browser.
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Supply Chain:
With the globalization of trade, we face an inevitable increase in the complexity of supply chains. While enabling enormous efficiency, savings and more choice for consumers, complex supply chains also open doors for fraudulent behavior that can be hard to trace. More and more, people care about where and how products are made. Blockchain has the potential to verify claims about where products came from, what materials were used in their manufacturing, who made them and how. In the case of our food supply, blockchains can play a powerful role in keeping us safe, preventing food-borne illnesses and outbreaks.
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Energy:
The way most people on earth receive and expend energy is not much different than it was thirty years ago, despite rapid developments in the renewable energy sector and beyond. The electric grid, for example, still relies on costly, centralized infrastructure that inefficiently sends energy over long distances. A distributed grid, built with blockchain technology, buttressed by renewable energy, could enable a peer-to-peer marketplace for surplus electricity.
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Civic:
Under a blockchain system, government and civic engagement becomes more accountable. Voters are able to cast their votes from their mobile phones or personal computers, which are then logged into an immutable blockchain and utilized to reliably verify the results of the election. Government spending in a blockchain-based system could be traced from the tax payer's check to government's expenditures, and the bureaucracy in between.