Why Open Money is better money

Here’s the thing. It would be a mistake to say something like, “the move toward Open Money will make the cost of money cheaper, or the cost of moving money cheaper.”

While Open Money systems introduce efficiencies, those efficiencies aren’t primarily about reducing costs. Instead, they focus on increasing access, utility, and functionality.

Permissionless networks like Bitcoin or Ethereum still charge user fees —commonly known as gas fees — to incentivize network participants and maintain security.

These fees are fundamental to the operation of decentralized systems, which rely on mechanisms like proof-of-work or proof-of-stake instead of centralized gatekeepers.

Yet, despite the user fees or gas costs, Open Money is better money.

To understand why, think of the current financial system as a set of wooden building blocks. They’re basic, rigid, and designed for specific purposes, which mainly relate to risk management or complying with regulations designed with risk in mind. With wooden blocks, you can construct houses, towers, and bridges—but your creativity is limited. The blocks don’t allow for much flexibility or complexity.

Now, imagine open money as a set of Lego blocks. With Lego, you’re no longer bound by simple shapes or limited designs. You can create intricate, modular systems: working cars, interconnected cities, even functioning robots. Lego unlocks a whole new level of creativity and capability. Open Money does the same for the financial world, it's called composable design.

Programmability is one of Open Money’s defining advantages. Traditional money can perform basic functions like storage, transfer, and exchange. Open Money can do all that and more.

Its programmability allows for smart contracts — self-executing agreements that automatically fulfill terms without intermediaries. For example, instead of hiring a lawyer to ensure the release of payment upon the delivery of goods, a smart contract can handle it seamlessly, reducing friction and increasing trust.

Then there’s decentralized finance (DeFi), which builds entirely new systems on top of open money. DeFi platforms allow anyone with an internet connection to borrow, lend, trade, or invest without needing a bank account or credit history.

This isn’t just a technical evolution—it’s a reimagining of how financial systems work and who gets to participate.

The inclusivity of Open Money is another game-changing factor. The current financial system excludes billions of people due to barriers like geography, lack of identification, or systemic inequality. Open money removes many of these barriers.

Permissionless networks don’t ask for credentials, they only require access to the internet. This shifts the global financial landscape, giving previously excluded populations the tools to participate in economic activity, save wealth, and build a future.

But Open Money isn’t just about solving existing problems — it’s about creating entirely new opportunities. Tokenization is a prime example. By representing real-world assets like property, art, or equity as digital tokens, Open Money allows for fractional ownership.

This means someone who couldn’t afford a whole investment property could now buy a small share of one. Similarly, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) use Open Money infrastructure to let groups pool resources and make decisions collectively, unlocking new models of collaboration and governance.

It’s not without its challenges. Open Money systems are still maturing, and issues like scalability, energy consumption, and regulatory uncertainty need to be addressed. But these growing pains are part of building something transformative.

The shift to Open Money is like moving from the static, constrained world of wooden blocks to the dynamic, modular possibilities of Lego. It doesn’t just replace what came before: it redefines what’s possible.

Open Money isn’t better because it’s cheaper—it’s better because it’s smarter, more accessible, and infinitely more customizable. Suddenly anything from micropayments to building AI agents that can trade on our behalf is possible.

With Open Money, we’re not just imagining a new kind of currency; we’re building the financial foundation for an entirely new kind of internet. And that changes everything.