Money, Myth, and Memory

I’ve always been fascinated by myth. Not because of dragons or gods — but because of what myths reveal about how humans make sense of uncertainty.

And in many ways, money is the modern myth.

Think about it. It only works because we all agree to believe in it. A banknote, a blockchain token, a balance sheet entry — none of it has meaning without trust. How different is that from the collective myths of old.

In ancient cultures, trust was encoded in ritual, in stories passed down, in shared memory. In the West, we’ve replaced myth with measurement. But I’m remain to convinced that’s progress, and the current global instability maybe speaks to that point.

When I speak with elders in Africa, or professors in Central Asia, or even business folks in the Gulf, I hear echoes of older truths: that wealth is relational. That prosperity has to be shared. That systems only work if they reflect a moral order.

My work is  not trying to turn the clock back. But in trying to bring memory back into the system. To design financial tools that recognise the stories people already live by — not just the stories the West has written.

Because when you build systems that honour these collective myths, you don’t just build better adoption. You build trust. And that’s worth more than gold.