In this century, Europe has not produced many giant tech companies, and even the few successes like British ARM Holdings, which chose to list on Nasdaq in 2023 instead of London, or Swedish Spotify which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018, preferred the American market over the European one. Even Asian companies like Alibaba turned to New York in 2014 to raise capital. The reason is clear: the American market makes fundraising easier and offers higher valuations than any other market, thanks to deep liquidity and a massive investor base.
This trend is not new; for over 200 years, the United States has provided a more flexible environment for starting businesses compared to Europe. In the 19th century, establishing a company in Europe required a royal license, while in America, it was enough to fill out a form and pay a small fee. Selling shares to the public in the United States was done easily, while Europe handled this matter cautiously, and sometimes the process required ministerial approval.
The United States developed a culture of individual investment early on. For example, Erie Railroad sold shares directly to investors in the 1830s, inspiring a wave of IPOs, even attracting European investments in these projects. The result was that America ended the century with a larger railroad network than Europe despite its smaller population, and the reason was the ease of financing from the markets, not just from banks or governments.
This flexibility was the competitive advantage that helped the United States finance major industries such as automotive, aviation, electronics, the internet, and artificial intelligence. Capital always flows to the most flexible financing environment, and this rule has not changed to this day.
But the question now is: is there an easier place to raise capital than the crypto markets? The answer is beginning to emerge. The Pump.fun platform sold tokens worth $500 million in just 12 minutes on Saturday, at a price of $0.005 per token. Over 21,000 accounts completed KYC procedures to participate, with an average purchase of about $300. Remarkably, this amount raised on a holiday exceeds what the New York Stock Exchange has raised on any Saturday since it stopped trading on Saturdays in 1950.
If this flexibility continues, crypto markets could become a massive competitive advantage for the digital economy, as they are open 24/7, global, and do not require traditional intermediaries. This could even attract companies unrelated to crypto, just as non-American companies previously turned to the American market.
However, there are clear challenges. The absence of regulation makes crypto an attractive environment for projects fleeing oversight rather than true innovation. Historical experience confirms that markets only became safe after being regulated; in the United States, the establishment of the SEC in the 1930s was a pivotal moment that granted investors confidence. This confidence is still absent in crypto markets.
If a regulatory framework is developed that gives investors this confidence, crypto markets in the 21st century could resemble American stock markets in the 19th century: more flexible, more inclusive, and more speculative, giving them the ability to compete with the traditional financial system.
If a large tech company like Spotify or ARM were to list its shares in the crypto market, we would look at Pump.fun as we look at Erie Railroad today: the first spark that changed the game.
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