Network effects in finance explained: the basic flywheelThe mechanism has three steps. A payment network that has settled trillions without losing a transaction carries proof no startup can replicate, and that proof is itself a network asset. Network effects do not merely reward joiners, they tax holdouts. Precedence Research values the global open banking market at 35.72 billion dollars in 2025 and projects 240.31 billion dollars by 2035, a 21 percent annual rate. What network effects mean for consumersConsumers harvest the upside daily: universal acceptance, instant transfers to anyone, free tools funded by network-scale economics.