Money is a belief system.
To some, money is a medium of exchange and to most, the numbers represent your bank account, which is true. But that is describing the utility of money, all of which is based on the human capacity to believe in something.
You’ll get up at 6 o’clock in the morning a certain number of days and pursue a career because you believe it’ll get you a certain number of margaritas on a lovely beach somewhere. A very workable social consensus.
It is my contention that this belief system of money is in a rapidly increasing state of flux. This is nothing new — it has happened countless times throughout history, however; these historical moments of change have consequences.
I vaguely became aware of cryptocurrency around 2012 and started to pay more attention as time went on. While I found the concept interesting and quite elegant, my overall comprehension of it was shallow.
Since then, I’ve consumed numerous detailed lectures, podcasts and writings advocating for and against the validity of this digital belief system. Both arguments are compelling.
While my understanding of it has reached a functional point of reasoning, on no level would I want to be forced to make a bet for or against it. To me, it’s a vast and dynamic system, and tough to predict the future on. The more answers I find, the more questions I have, and some of those questions have that spooky quality of "only time will tell".
Some of these nascent thoughts are as such: A potential advantage of crypto is absolute privacy and security, which would be fantastic. Is that actually possible? While I’m no expert on these matters it seems to me that almost anything on the internet is vulnerable to a determined and talented individual in these areas, who may not have your best interests at heart.
It’s like a nude resort in the south of France. It’s all well and fine if everyone minds their manners, but you are exposed.
Also, the use of any digital currency needs a stable source of electricity. So to me, it’s worthy of note that my nerve-centre of a house with its humming computers and smartphone chargers, instantly turns into a silent, nicely decorated box when the power turns off for any reason.
It's possible the broad acceptance of crypto will require a Constantine moment. Constantine, you may recall, was the Roman emperor that decided Christianity was his religion, which then quickly crystallized the wholesale adoption of this belief system throughout the empire.
Also, the very nature of what we conceive as a government state would change. Almost all governments are built on the centralized control of money. If money is decentralized, it’ll change how taxes are collected and how to pay the military and law enforcement structures. What then?
And our current system of money, the fiat dollar and its interrelated brethren? Imagine a high-stakes poker game and behind every player is an unlimited number of aces. How long can that game go on before somebody gets upset and flips the table over? It’s merely a question of scale.
The future perception of money is well nigh an unknowable topic because it is something that almost every person engages in on a daily basis with different needs, wants and interpretations, which is an evolving expression of human nature.
We have all heard the cliche that love makes the world go around and it’s been my amused observation that money certainly helps the love get around. The belief in what that money is going to look like is changing though.
It reminds me of the time I watched a sumo wrestling match as a little kid. I had no awareness of the rules nor any inkling of the deep cultural lore of this sport. But I could see the titanic forces at play and while I was only a spectator back then, this time (and most of us don’t know it yet) we all got skin in this game.
Douglas Miller
Greater Sudbury