The Capital Module

The rise of the Experience Economy

“Affluent consumers in many regions are increasingly choosing luxury experiences over premium products.” — 2025 Julius Baer Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report

We are witnessing a structural shift in global capital allocation.

The world is moving from a "possession economy" to an "experience economy." Post-pandemic spending habits have calcified into a permanent lifestyle shift where memories are valued higher than merchandise.

According to the Mastercard Economics Institute’s "Experience Economy" report (2024), spending on experiences including travel, live events, and hospitality—has surged, with consumers in major economies increasing their experiential spend by approximately 65% compared to 2019, significantly outpacing growth in retail goods. This is not a fleeting trend; it is a generational realignment of value.

A Trillion-Dollar Asset Class in the Shadows

The numbers confirm that attention and culture are the new oil, yet they remain vastly under-financialized.

The Creator Economy: As projected by Goldman Sachs, the creator economy is currently valued at $250 billion and is on a trajectory to nearly double to $480 billion by 2027.

The Live Events Boom: The demand for in-person connection is breaking records. Live Nation reported over $23 billion in revenue for 2024, driven by a global fanbase willing to pay premiums for access.

The Private Credit Opportunity: Simultaneously, the private credit market is exploding. According to Morgan Stanley, the private credit sector is expected to reach $2.8 trillion by 2028.

However, a massive inefficiency exists at the intersection of these markets.

The Capital Paradox: The Gap Between Culture and Credit

Despite generating billions in reliable cash flow, the experience economy is starved of capital. Traditional banking infrastructure was built for the industrial age, it relies on hard collateral like real estate, factories, and inventory. It does not understand cash flows derived from culture.

1) A YouTuber with 5 million subscribers and consistent AdSense revenue is often flagged as "high risk" by traditional banks due to "irregular" income patterns.

2) An independent festival organizer with 50,000 loyal attendees often struggles to secure bridge loans for venue deposits because they lack physical assets to pledge.

This creates a Capital Gap. We have a market with high demand and proven revenue streams, yet it cannot access efficient financing.

Bridging the Gap: A Dual Opportunity

City Protocol fills this void by treating "Experience" as an emerging asset class, creating a symbiotic relationship in assets between two distinct investor groups:

1. For Institutional Investors: Institutions are currently hunting for yield in a volatile market. They seek uncorrelated returns, assets that do not move in lockstep with Bitcoin or the S&P 500. As noted in BlackRock’s 2024 Global Outlook, investors are increasingly looking toward private markets for diversification. The experience economy offers exactly this: short-duration, high-yield opportunities (historically 10-20% APY) derived from real-world revenue (ticket sales, merchandise, platform royalties) rather than speculative trading.

2. For Retail Investors: Historically, lucrative private credit deals were gated behind closed doors, accessible only to high-net-worth individuals or venture funds. Fans were treated solely as consumers, never as stakeholders. City Protocol democratizes this access. By fractionalizing these opportunities, retail investors can finally capture the financial upside of the culture they consume, turning fandom into a financial portfolio.

Why On-Chain? The Infrastructure of Trust

If the demand exists and the capital exists, why hasn't this gap been closed by Fintech? The answer lies in settlement and transparency.

Traditional securitization is too slow and expensive for the dynamic nature of the experience economy. Securitizing a single concert tour or a creator’s yearly revenue using traditional legal rails would cost more in legal fees than the capital being raised.

Blockchain provides the necessary infrastructure to make this viable:

Programmable Cash Flows: Through smart contracts, yield can be easily settled on chain with low friction.

Immutable Transparency: As highlighted by Bain & Company, tokenization improves liquidity and transparency, reducing the "trust tax" that traditionally makes private credit expensive.

Global Liquidity: Deals onchain can get access to global capital through Defi.

City Protocol is not just funding events; we are building the financial rails for the Experience Economy, proving that culture is credit-worthy and that experiences are investable assets.