It’s Amsterdam, 1602. The Dutch East India Company, the most valuable corporation to ever exist, announces the world’s first IPO. It issues stock certificates, essentially paper receipts for “ownership” in ships, spices, and trading routes. The certificates give investor liquidity. They let investors hold onto and trade pieces of paper, instead of being locked into holding a specific piece of cargo. Yet skeptics promptly label them “worthless paper.” Four centuries later, that “worthless paper” concept has evolved into a $124 trillion global equity market. Fast Forward to 2024… Bitcoin is king, the most valuable ... (full story)