Open Money is more than money

It's a tool for a reimagined digital world — a world where identity, user-control, collaboration, and participation take on entirely new forms.

In the past couple of posts, we’ve focused on Open Money as a new kind of system, largely through the lens of financial innovation.

But here’s the thing: Open Money is about way more than money.

The infrastructure that enables accessible and seamless transfer of financial assets doesn’t stop at finance. It lays the groundwork for a reimagined digital world — a world where identity, user-control, collaboration, and participation take on entirely new forms.

We start with money because money is universal. It’s the common denominator of human systems — a fundamental building block that touches nearly every aspect of life. But to truly understand Open Money, we have to zoom out and see the larger context made possible by more user-centric money.

Take digital identity. In today’s internet, our identities are fragmented and, often, controlled by third parties. We log in with passwords or connect through centralized platforms that own our data and, by extension, pieces of our digital lives.

Open Money systems, with their roots in blockchain and cryptography, introduce the possibility of self-sovereign identity. Imagine an identity that you own, manage, and carry across the digital world—a single, verifiable identity that doesn’t depend on Facebook or Google or any other gatekeeper.

Really this is a story about leverage, and who has the leverage in these relationships — a corporation, a bank, a credit card company, a government, or the individual user.

Or consider security and privacy. Open Money’s decentralization shifts power away from centralized entities that are vulnerable to breaches or misuse of data. It offers a model where user control isn’t an afterthought but a default. Zero-knowledge proofs, encrypted transactions, and decentralized networks allow for secure interactions without the need to sacrifice personal data or control.

Then there’s collaboration and organization. Open Money systems aren’t just financial; they’re social. They make new forms of collective decision-making possible, enabling decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and other cooperative models. These structures let people pool resources, govern themselves, and achieve shared goals without needing traditional hierarchical institutions.

Finally, there’s participation. Open Money breaks down barriers that have historically excluded people from the digital economy. But it doesn’t stop there — it also enables new forms of participation in cultural, political, and creative ecosystems. From tokenized communities to decentralized marketplaces, Open Money infrastructure is a springboard for new ways to engage with the world and new ways to build economies at different scales.

Open Money isn’t just a replacement for financial systems. It’s a reimagining of the internet itself. It’s a vision of an internet where openness, permissionless, and decentralization don’t just apply to money—they apply to identity, data, collaboration, and participation.

In other words, new building blocks to build new systems that better align with current challenges and opportunities.

So while we start with money because it’s a universal tool and construct, the story doesn’t end there. Open Money is about rethinking the systems that shape digital life. It’s about building a world where control is distributed, barriers are lowered, and possibilities are expanded. In this world, money is just the beginning.

This post is part of the Open Money project, an ongoing series that forms the basis of a longer work. Subscribe to get a weekly update as it unfolds.