tl;dr: Applying for a credit card and a reminder of where we are + where we are going.

Every so often, I like to cancel my credit cards and cycle through them to new ones.

Not only does it give me a chance to review spending and shut down any unnecessary recurring charges, but it gives me an opportunity to shop for deals.

Plus, with all of the info flowing around on the Dark Web, it’s a good safety mechanism.

It’s true that it can be a bit of a hassle for some auto-pay stuff, but it is also a good chance at tabula rasa.

The Web 2.0 Application Process

You’re familiar with this. Give away a ton of personal information and then authorize a credit check on Experian or TransUnion or Equifax.

Thing is, as I wrote in Equifax Proves Blockchains are Inevitable, these credit reporting services create a huge hazard for each of us insofar as they centralize a ton of personal information about each of us.

Plus, with the aforementioned Dark Web issue of my Social Security Number available to the highest bidder, it’s not like I’m safe anyway.

So, in addition to the credit reporting/monitoring service that we’ve all been offered after one of the innumerable hacks, I’ve put a lock on my account.

This is great…until I actually WANT to get a new credit card. So, when I applied the other day, it was denied because my credit report was locked. So, I went to unlock it and reapplied. Denied again, but with no explanation why (it’s not a credit score issue).

So I gave up and will try another time.

Why am I sharing this?

The Web 3.0 Application Process

Because most of my financial life these days is lived in a crypto-first world.

There, if I want to go to Compound or dydx or Synthetix or Hegic or Aave or Cream or…and borrow some money, you know what I do?

I log in with MetaMask.

Immediately, each protocol knows what assets I have to offer as collateral. Once I’ve done that (say put up some ETH), I am entitled to borrow any one of the numerous other assets at a predefined rate.

Seriously, that’s it.

The whole process takes a few minutes and doesn’t require me to fill out forms, give away personal information, or rely on a 3rd party provider of data services which puts me at risk.

As my good friend Hilary Carter said the other day, “once you’ve lived in Web 3.0, it’s really hard to go back.”

She’s right.

Eventually, everyone will understand.