The Macro Thesis: The Financialization of the Attention Economy

We are living through the largest asset repricing in history. For the last century, Global Capital chased Production (Factories, Real Estate, Software IP). In the coming decade, Global Capital will chase attention, especially since that’s the way Gen Z invests. They tend to read social feeds for investment ideas rather than research reports from investment banks.

In an AI-driven world, "making things" is cheap and abundant. "Getting people to care" is the only remaining scarce resource. The lowered cost of product enabled by vibe coding only increases the edge for distribution, especially with consumers, where iteration x distribution drives success. Distribution, social network effects, and brand value grow ever clearer as the end game of all moats.

The market has already realized that Attention = Liquidity, but the financial rails to support this new asset class do not exist. The world’s smartest capital is already aggressively chasing Attention, but it is forced to use outdated and inefficient rails.

The Private Equity Gap: MrBeast sought a $5B valuation, but this massive asset was locked behind closed-door deals, and the public who built his value was barred from investing.

The M&A Reality: Coty paid $600M for Kylie Cosmetics, not for her generic lipstick formula, but for her 300 million followers, proving the market values Attention > Product.

The Speculation Hunger: Billions flowed into election prediction markets, proving the world is desperate to trade "intangible narratives" with real money rather than just watching them.

We have a massive disconnect. Attention is the new Oil, but we are still carrying it around in buckets instead of building pipelines.

1. Attention is Illiquid: A creator can have 10 million followers (High Asset Value) but be unable to pay rent (Low Cash Flow) because banks do not recognize "Influence" as collateral. They cannot borrow against their audience.

2. Capital is Locked Out: A hedge fund in New York sees a rising cultural movement or a viral trend. They know it will generate billions in value. But they cannot "Long the Trend." They have to buy proxy stocks (like Google or Meta), which are diluted and inefficient.

3. The Flywheel is Broken: Currently, to monetize attention, you must sell it (Ads/Sponsorships). Very few have the know-how to structure a financial product around it (Asset/Equity). This forces creators to degrade their product with ads, destroying the very attention they built.

To fill the gap, we build a City of Attention - a pipeline that connects Global Capital to Global Attention.

1. We Financialize Influence: We turn abstract "social capital" (followers, engagement, community loyalty) into structured financial products (e.g. youtuber financing).

2. We Enable "Clout Collateral": Just as you mortgage a house to unlock liquidity, City Protocol utilises Experience Economy to unlock capital backed by attention.

3. We Bridge the Flywheel: Capital gets direct exposure to the highest-growth asset class on earth (Culture), which in turn builds distribution networks for the whole platform.

We are not building a playground for speculators. We are building the financial infrastructure for the next trillions of Global GDP.