Author: mehranmuslimiblog

Born in Hamadan and raised in Canada, I was educated to postgraduate level and have an MBA from the University of Prince Edward Island. I am a senior-level IT entrepreneur with over twenty years of global experience and a proven track record in applying an appropriate and practical mix of technologies that meet business needs while minimizing risks. Moreover, I am a motivated achiever with the demonstrable ability to recommend enhancements to a range of enterprise operations and processes. Following collaboration with several blockchain software developers on new products for the financial services sector, I finally started working on my own Fintech project in 2016. Since then I have been instrumental in building teams of experts that have developed a series of blockchain ecosystems, including digital assets as loan collateral, cross-border payments and digital banking, and have developed a following on Medium and Hackernoon with my insights into the crypto sector, including DeFi and NFTs.

AI’s First Extinction Event Is Nigh: Why Most AI Startups Are Doomed

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For the past three years, AI has been the hottest ticket in tech. Billions in venture funding, explosive hype cycles, and a flood of new startups promising to “revolutionize” industries have created what feels like a modern-day gold rush. But behind the noise, a sobering reality is emerging: most AI startups are not built to last.

We are on the brink of AI’s first extinction event—a mass die-off of companies that raised fast, scaled hastily, and built on foundations too fragile to survive the coming storm. Here’s why.

1. The Infrastructure Problem: Building on Rented Land

Many AI startups don’t actually “own” their technology stack. Instead, they rely on third-party large language models (LLMs) and cloud infrastructure owned by giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Amazon.

That creates two existential issues:

  • No moat: If your product is just a thin UI layer on top of GPT, you’re one API call away from being replaced by the platform itself.
  • Rising costs: Cloud compute and inference costs scale badly. For many startups, customer growth actually means losing more money.

When your landlord also happens to be your competitor, survival is not a long-term strategy.

2. The Funding Bubble: Too Much, Too Soon

VCs, eager not to miss the “next OpenAI,” have poured billions into AI companies with little more than a demo and a pitch deck.

But markets don’t reward experiments forever. As capital tightens and investors demand sustainable revenue models, startups built on hype, not fundamentals, will collapse.

History is clear: every tech wave has its Pets.com moment. AI will be no exception.

3. The Differentiation Dilemma

Right now, thousands of AI startups are building chatbots, productivity tools, and verticalized assistants. The problem? They all look and feel the same.

Without deep industry expertise, proprietary data, or defensible distribution, most of these startups are features, not companies.

The survivors will be those that carve out real moats—through unique data sets, domain knowledge, and integrations that can’t be easily copied by bigger players.

4. The Regulatory Reckoning

Governments worldwide are racing to regulate AI, from the EU’s AI Act to U.S. executive orders. While regulation is necessary, it will also raise compliance costs and add friction for smaller players.

Big Tech can afford armies of lawyers and compliance teams. Most startups cannot. This regulatory wave will disproportionately wipe out underfunded challengers.

5. The Talent Squeeze

AI talent is scarce—and expensive. The best researchers, engineers, and product leaders are being snapped up by the giants. Startups are left competing for scraps, often overpaying for teams that can’t match the depth of expertise sitting inside Meta, Google, or OpenAI.

Without elite talent, it’s nearly impossible to stay ahead in a field moving this fast.

What Comes After the Extinction

So, does this mean AI innovation is doomed? Far from it. In fact, the extinction event will be healthy.

It will clear the market of clones, hype-driven pitches, and unsustainable business models—making space for a new generation of companies that truly understand where AI creates value.

The winners will be:

  • Startups with proprietary data and domain expertise.
  • Companies that solve real, painful problems rather than chasing buzzwords.
  • Builders who treat AI not as the product, but as an enabler—integrating it seamlessly into workflows, industries, and daily life.

The Bottom Line

The AI boom has been breathtaking, but it is also unsustainable in its current form. The next 24 months will bring a brutal contraction—thousands of startups shutting their doors, investors licking their wounds, and consolidation under Big Tech.

Yet in that crucible, the strongest ideas and founders will emerge. And just like the dot-com crash gave rise to Google, Amazon, and Facebook, AI’s extinction event will pave the way for the true giants of tomorrow.

The hype cycle is ending. The real work is about to begin.

Beyond the Halving: The Next Five Years That Will Transform Bitcoin Forever

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Bitcoin, cryptoLeave a comment

Bitcoin’s Breakout Era

Inside the Institutional Wave Reshaping the Global Financial Order

For over a decade, Bitcoin has been dismissed, praised, feared, and idolized—often all at once. But what lies ahead could dwarf everything we’ve seen so far. The next five years won’t just be about price surges or speculative hype. They’ll be about a tectonic shift in global finance, institutional power, and digital ownership—and Bitcoin is set to sit at the epicenter.

Let’s explore why the coming half-decade could redefine not only how we see money, but how we own, transfer, and build wealth in the digital age.

1. Institutional Power Will Reshape the Playing Field

The biggest story of the next five years won’t be retail traders or crypto-native startups—it will be institutions moving in with scale, sophistication, and strategic patience.

  • Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance giants are quietly allocating small but growing percentages of their portfolios to Bitcoin.
  • Spot Bitcoin ETF products are making it easier than ever for traditional investors to gain exposure without the complexities of self-custody.
  • Global banks are developing digital asset custody and settlement infrastructure, embedding Bitcoin into the same pipes that move trillions in bonds and equities daily.

This institutional wave brings stability, regulatory legitimacy, and enormous capital, but it also changes the dynamics: liquidity will deepen, volatility may compress, and strategic long-term holding will outweigh short-term speculation.

2. Scarcity Will Become a Global Narrative

Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins has always been its rallying cry. But over the next five years, scarcity could evolve from a meme to a mainstream investment thesis.

  • Each Bitcoin halving event—where mining rewards are cut in half—tightens new supply. The next halving, expected in 2028, will make the asset even rarer.
  • As more coins move into cold storage and institutional vaults, circulating liquidity will shrink, further accentuating scarcity.
  • Nation-states and corporate treasuries may follow pioneers like El Salvador and MicroStrategy, treating Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.

Scarcity plus institutional demand creates a perfect storm of upward pressure, potentially catapulting Bitcoin into the financial mainstream like never before.

3. The Rise of Digital Ownership and Financial Sovereignty

Perhaps the most underestimated transformation is not just financial—but cultural. The next generation of wealth holders, entrepreneurs, and creators is growing up with self-custody, decentralized finance, and tokenized assets as default mindsets.

  • The concept of owning your private keys—and by extension, your wealth—will become second nature to digital natives.
  • Innovations like layer-2 networks, smart contract bridges, and decentralized identity will blur the lines between Bitcoin’s base layer and broader Web3 ecosystems.
  • This will give rise to a world where individuals can own and transfer assets globally without intermediaries, creating new forms of entrepreneurship, investment, and financial inclusion.

Over five years, this shift could reshape the global distribution of power—moving it away from centralized financial institutions and toward the hands of individuals and communities.

4. Regulation Will Bring Both Risk and Credibility

Global regulators are no longer ignoring Bitcoin. The coming years will see a wave of policy frameworks—some supportive, others restrictive.

  • Clear rules could unlock trillions in institutional capital that are currently sidelined due to compliance concerns.
  • However, overregulation or fragmented policies could push activity offshore, creating jurisdictional competition and uneven adoption.

The winners will be jurisdictions that strike the right balance between consumer protection, innovation, and open access—and Bitcoin will thrive where freedom and innovation converge.

5. A Global Reset of What Money Means

Perhaps the biggest impact of the coming five years will be philosophical. As fiat currencies face inflationary pressures and central banks explore Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), Bitcoin will stand out as a neutral, decentralized, borderless alternative.

This will ignite a profound question for societies worldwide:

“If money can be created endlessly, what does it mean to truly own something?”

Bitcoin’s next chapter will force both individuals and institutions to rethink the very foundations of value, trust, and sovereignty.

The Bottom Line: A Decade Defined by Bitcoin

The past decade made Bitcoin famous.
The next five years could make it foundational.

As capital, talent, and technology converge, the world is on the cusp of a Bitcoin Renaissance—a period where this once-niche experiment matures into a pillar of the global financial system.

Whether you’re an investor, innovator, or observer, one thing is certain:
The next five years will be unlike anything we’ve seen—and they’ll change how the world thinks about money forever.

This Is What Really Smart People Predict Will Happen With AI

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And the urgent advice they’re failing to tell you. (Entrepreneurs, listen up!)

AI isn’t “coming” — it’s already here. But while mainstream headlines talk about flashy chatbots or robots that can make coffee, the smartest thinkers in the field are pointing to deeper shifts that will shake industries to their core.

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a buzzword — it’s the single most transformative force of this decade. The headlines are dominated by generative models like ChatGPT and MidJourney, but what the smartest voices in tech and business are predicting goes far beyond chatbots and image generators.

They see a future where AI quietly reshapes the economy, rewrites the rules of competition, and forces entrepreneurs to rethink how they build, scale, and lead.

Here’s what they’re forecasting — and the urgent advice that could mean the difference between thriving and becoming obsolete.

1. AI Will Become the New Electricity

Just as electricity revolutionized every industry a century ago, AI is set to become an invisible utility. In five years, customers won’t be impressed that your software “uses AI” — they’ll assume it. What they’ll notice is speed, cost, and personalization.

Think of Netflix: no one talks about its AI recommendation engine, but it drives billions in engagement. The same will happen across healthcare, logistics, retail, finance, and education.

Entrepreneur takeaway: Stop trying to sell AI itself. Sell the outcomes — faster approvals, smoother onboarding, predictive service. Your competitive edge will be how seamlessly AI integrates, not how loudly you advertise it.

2. The Productivity Gap Will Become a Canyon

The people who learn to use AI will not just outperform those who don’t — they’ll outpace them exponentially. Already, lawyers are drafting contracts in minutes with AI; marketers are producing content at 10x the speed; coders are shipping products in weeks instead of months.

This “AI fluency gap” is what experts believe will create a new kind of inequality inside organizations. Two employees with the same background won’t deliver the same value if one knows how to leverage AI and the other doesn’t.

Entrepreneur takeaway: Invest in training, not just tools. Make AI literacy as fundamental as Excel or email. The most adaptable companies will sprint ahead — while laggards disappear.

3. Regulation Will Hit Hard and Fast

For now, governments are playing catch-up. But history shows what happens: they ignore disruptive tech until a scandal or crisis forces sudden, sweeping regulation. With AI, this could mean bans on high-risk applications, heavy liability rules for bias or errors, or strict controls on data usage.

When it lands, it won’t just affect “Big Tech.” Startups and small businesses will be caught off guard.

Entrepreneur takeaway: Build resilience into your processes now. Prioritize transparency, data ethics, and explainability. Don’t see compliance as a burden — see it as future-proofing. When regulation slams down, your competitors will scramble while you stay operational.

4. Jobs Won’t Disappear — Roles Will

Most experts agree: AI isn’t erasing jobs wholesale. But it is dismantling comfort zones. Routine legal research, financial analysis, medical imaging, customer support — these are being automated at scale.

The new work that emerges will require human judgment, creativity, and leadership. Think “AI supervisor” instead of “data entry clerk.” Think “strategic advisor” instead of “junior analyst.”

Entrepreneur takeaway: Reframe your hiring. Don’t just ask, Can this person do the job? Ask, Can this person do the job in partnership with AI? The future belongs to hybrid thinkers who combine domain expertise with AI leverage.

5. The Biggest Opportunities Are Hidden in Plain Sight

Everyone is chasing shiny AI products — but the true wealth will be built in unglamorous areas: document processing, supply chain optimization, regulatory compliance, workflow automation.

For example:

  • Hospitals using AI to reduce administrative delays save millions before even touching clinical AI.
  • Logistics firms applying AI to routing shave days off deliveries, saving billions globally.
  • Banks using AI to flag fraudulent transactions quietly prevent disasters that never make headlines.

Entrepreneur takeaway: Stop looking for the “sexy” idea. Instead, look where businesses are bleeding time and money. The boring problems are billion-dollar opportunities in disguise.

The Real Urgency for Entrepreneurs

The loudest voices say AI will “change everything.” The smartest voices say: it already is. The difference between those two perspectives is timing — and timing is everything in entrepreneurship.

The truth is:

  • By the time AI is “mainstream,” the real opportunities will be gone.
  • By the time regulation lands, it will be too late to redesign your processes.
  • By the time your competitors outpace you with AI, catching up will be impossible.

The urgent advice is simple: Don’t think about building an “AI startup.” Think about building a business that survives — and thrives — in a world where AI is the baseline.

The entrepreneurs who win won’t be the ones shouting “we use AI!” They’ll be the ones nobody notices — until suddenly, they’re years ahead.

✨ Bottom line: AI won’t replace you. But the entrepreneurs who learn to embed it into every corner of their business will.

The 150-Year Market Map That Predicted Every Crash — Including What’s Next in 2025

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Markets feel chaotic in the moment. Crashes seem sudden, bubbles look irrational, and recoveries often appear like miracles. But history tells a different story: financial markets move in cycles—predictable, almost rhythmic patterns that have repeated for over 150 years.

What if I told you there’s a map—a historical blueprint—that not only explains every major boom and bust but also gives us strong clues about where we’re heading in 2025?

The Cycles Hidden in Plain Sight

When you zoom out far enough, short-term noise disappears, and long-term patterns emerge. Economists and historians have tracked several recurring cycles, but three stand out:

  • Kondratiev Waves (40–60 years): Long cycles driven by technological revolutions and infrastructure buildouts. Steam, railroads, electricity, oil, the internet—all sparked massive booms, followed by crashes.
  • Kuznets Cycles (15–20 years): Linked to investment in housing, demographics, and migration.
  • Juglar Cycles (7–11 years): Classic business cycles of expansion and recession.

Overlay these cycles on a 150-year market map, and something fascinating happens: the Great Depression (1929), Dot-Com Bust (2000), Global Financial Crisis (2008), and even the COVID crash (2020) all align almost perfectly with these waves.

History may not repeat exactly, but it certainly rhymes.

Every Crash, Every Time

  • 1929 Crash & Depression: The end of a Kondratiev wave powered by industrial expansion.
  • 1970s Stagflation: A cycle peak fueled by post-WWII rebuilding, ending in inflation and oil shocks.
  • 2000 Dot-Com Bubble: A tech-driven Kuznets-Juglar alignment that snapped under its own weight.
  • 2008 Financial Crisis: A Kuznets housing cycle collapse, amplified by financial engineering.
  • 2020 Pandemic Shock: An external trigger landing right at the tail of a Juglar cycle.

The map isn’t magic—it’s math + psychology. Human behavior (fear, greed, over-confidence) drives markets the same way it did a century ago. Combine this with debt cycles, demographics, and technology shifts, and the rhythm becomes clear.

So What About 2025?

If history holds, 2025 looks like the intersection of two powerful forces:

  1. Debt & Liquidity Squeeze
    The last decade was defined by cheap money and explosive debt. Rising interest rates now act as a global stress test. Historically, debt bubbles unwind painfully—2025 could mark the breaking point.
  2. Tech Hype vs. Reality
    AI, blockchain, and green tech are driving a new Kondratiev-style boom. But every tech revolution has its bubble phase before real adoption matures. The “AI everything” narrative feels eerily similar to the 1999 internet euphoria.
  3. Geopolitical Fractures
    Major wars, supply chain realignments, and the de-dollarization trend are reshaping global finance. History shows that market shocks often align with geopolitical stress.

Put simply: the 150-year map suggests that 2025 won’t be just another year—it could be the pivot point of the next great reset.

How to Think About It

The point isn’t doom-scrolling or fear. It’s preparation.

  • Crashes aren’t endings—they’re transitions.
  • Every market bust of the last 150 years created the foundation for the next growth wave.
  • The winners aren’t those who avoid volatility but those who understand it and position wisely.

If the map is right, 2025 may bring turbulence—but also once-in-a-generation opportunities.

Final Thought

The 150-year market map isn’t a crystal ball. It’s a reminder that cycles, not randomness, drive history.

We’ve seen this movie before—every crash, every recovery, every new boom. And if the patterns hold, 2025 could be one of the most decisive chapters yet.

The real question isn’t whether the storm is coming. It’s whether you’ll be prepared to navigate it.