NFTs: Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal on the tokenization of everything
Recently, former Goldman Sachs CEO Raoul Pal explained why he is bullish on the NFT sector.
Before founding macroeconomic and investment strategy analysis service Global Macro Investor (GMI) in 2005, Pal co-managed the GLG Global Macro Fund in London for global asset management firm GLG Partners (now called “Man GLG”). Prior to that, Pal worked at Goldman Sachs, where he co-led the European equity and equity derivatives hedge fund sales business. He is currently the CEO of the financial and business video channel Real Vision, which he co-founded in 2014.
In the April 2020 issue of the GMI newsletter, Pal explained why he believes Bitcoin, which he called “the future,” could one day be worth $10 trillion. In that edition, Pal said that the idea of a $10 trillion valuation for Bitcoin is not so crazy:
“After all, it’s not just a currency or even a store of value. It is a completely trusted, verified, secure financial and accounting system of digital value that can never be created outside of the cryptographic algorithm… It is nothing less than the future of our entire exchange system, and of money itself and the platform on which it runs.“
Yesterday (November 5, 2022), Pal took to Twitter to talk about the huge potential of NFTs, where he said:
“Right now people think of NFT as art or community. Both are fantastic use cases for NFTs. We will see all cultural assets digitized and tokenized… While the tokenization of culture is almost infinite and has only just begun, most people miss the even bigger picture… ALL contracts will be tokenized as NFTs as they are more efficient , cheaper, faster and safer…
“ALL: ID, tickets, reservations (hotels, airlines, trains, restaurants, etc.), all insurance contracts, internet permits, hotel keys, car documents, property, certifications… …advertising, supply chain contracts, inventory management, business agreements, driving licenses, medical records , employment history, references, etc etc … but it gets even bigger …
“The entire financial industry is based on contracts on a truly BIG scale – too big for the old City of London “My Word is My Bond” system to work and a two-party audited ledger/database… That’s somewhere between $650trn and $4 QUADRILLION of derivatives, $250 billion in stocks, same in bonds, etc. These are all types of non-fungible contracts (some are large and some are 1 of 1 as a special OTC option)….
“All asset management and funds will also be tokenized. It is much faster, accessible, transparent and more efficient… AND the “smart” element of NFT means that enforcement or dispute resolution is automatic, cheaper and faster, as is “storage or ownership”…
“No one can wrap their head around this. Everyone anchors on a linear trajectory for what’s happening today, but misses the BIG picture, which is truly exponential. Some of it will happen quickly and some over time. It also has other benefits… It frees up velocity of money through less locked up capital, settlements, disputes, enforcement, etc. It makes the system infinitely less capital intensive. It is also transparent. And it can create liquid(ish) secondary markets of it all… creates capital efficiency…
“And you thought it was just about the BIG concept of digital asset ownership in a digital age… My frens… you’re missing the REALLY BIG picture. EVERYTHING will be tokenized. NFTs, fungible tokens and blockchains (and who knows what else to come) will drive it all.“
On September 29, 2022, Pal explained why he expects the total crypto market cap to reach around $300 trillion in the next 10-15 years. His comments about the crypto space were made as part of an interview he did for an episode of the YouTube series “Google TechTalks”.
According to a report by The Daily Hodl, Pal told the show’s host Raphael Hyde:
“All the major Web2 players are involved. Everyone in the financial system is involved – everyone. You simply don’t see it, because they are moving forward cautiously due to regulatory issues. But everyone knows that this is where it all goes. I’ve never seen anything like it, personally. It’s kind of like the internet, but it’s just faster and actually larger in scale, which sounds crazy, but it’s because it attributes value to these protocol layers.
“So there’s this huge value addition that’s coming. If I compare where we are now, call it a trillion dollars in digital asset valuation. Well, almost all of the traditional asset markets are $200 trillion to $300 trillion each. We’re going to get there in probably 10 to 15 years.“
On July 3, 2022, Pal talked about why he’s so excited about the new Web3-focused business (ScienceMagic.Studios) he recently co-founded.
ScienceMagic.Studios describes itself as “a digital asset venture studio” that advises and implements “the creation of digital assets (eg NFTs and social tokens) and web3 economies for brands, talents and their communities.”
The three founders are David Pemsell, former CEO of the Guardian Media Group; Kevin Kelly, who is “co-founder of Delphi Digital, the leading research and consulting firm dedicated to web3 and digital assets, and a partner in Delphi Ventures, the firm’s investment arm”; and Raoul Pal.
As The Block reported on June 14, 2022, the firm “raised $10 million in pre-funding” from an impressive set of backers that included Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and Liberty City Ventures.
On July 3, 2022, the Real Vision CEO took to Twitter to explain what his new firm is trying to do:
He went on to say:
- “Our mission is to tokenize the world’s largest cultural communities—music, fashion, movies/book/TV franchises, and sports—using NFTs, social tokens, and the metaverse to build community, utility, and experience.“
- “There are $63 billion of intangible assets on global corporate balance sheets. Tokenization turns the brand and community into concrete things and shares the utility and network with the community. It is potentially the biggest change in business models in a very very long time.“
- “We have hinted at this for a long time! It’s one of the biggest opportunities in Web 3, helping big brands enter Web 3 the right way—creatively, but cautiously and thoughtfully. We are already in talks with some monumental people/brands. Really, really exciting!“
