The post highlights the complexity of traditional credit card payment authorization, involving multiple intermediaries like issuing banks, acquiring banks, and card networks. This multi-step process, without "shared global state," implies inefficiencies and potential for disruption. Investors should consider the long-term potential of blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions that aim to streamline such processes, potentially impacting traditional payment giants like Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) by offering more direct, efficient, and transparent transaction methods.