Our society has changed over time especially with the way payments are being transacted. From paper bills to credit cards and now bills getting paid through cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin having the most adoption considering the fact that many companies have started to notice and Bitcoin ATMs proliferating all over the globe.
Paper Bills to Cryptocurrency
Despite the global common knowledge that Satoshi Nakamoto was the founder of Bitcoin, reports show that in 2008, Bitcoin was launched by a group led by Charles Bry, Vladimir Oksman and Neal Kin who filed a patent for an encrypted currency.
The supposed founders described the new currency as “a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust” and opened the Bitcoin.org domain anonymously. Parity with the traditional currency established as the cryptocurrency grew in popularity.
While Bitcoin may not necessarily be considered as electronic denomination or legal tender in most countries, it has an advantage of decentralizing currency exchange and gives people the freedom to transfer assets from different parts of the world in ideally a few minutes. Even confirmations of transactions tend to be shorted when compared to current solutions in place such as Western Union, PayPal, among others.
The cashless society is creating a big leap towards cryptocurrency because of the advantages of using it – less hassle and more profit than your regular paper bills. Since Bitcoin is also perceived as an exciting investment opportunity, holding the record of skyrocketing recently to almost $5,000 due to various factors, including geopolitical issues leading many East Asians to find refuge in the decentralize digital currency. For those who consider Bitcoin as an alternative investment (comparable to IRA), historical gains show much higher yields versus if you buy shares in a popular company, like Apple, or store your money in a bank.
Moreover, cryptocurrencies seem a near perfect solution to the many obstacles and risks of traditional cash management. Everyday more and more stores opt to accept Bitcoin as payment option. This is applicable if you currently most use Visa or MasterCard.
In effect, cryptocurrency is becoming the future of cashless society. Such has grown because of its accessibility, flexibility and advance investment opportunity for everyone.
Changes in Government and People
The cashless society will help increase more awareness for the cryptocurrencies through the blockchain technology. This technology tremendously changed the cryptocurrency as it offers a decentralized and distributed ledger for all of a user’s transaction and activity.
Moreover, the government recently shown interest in the cashless society and this could be an advantage and disadvantage. The cryptocurrency enthusiasts are now likely to foresee an end to the heavily regulated transactions.
The government as well as banks have seen advantage of the blockchain technology. Even some countries like Russia, Canada, China and Japan are now starting to study how to create the cryptocurrency to their financial system.
On the other hand, as the government, banks and even retailers see the benefit of cryptocurrency, the need for cash will be greatly reduced as the need for encrypted currency and blockchain technology increases.
Paul Sciglar, CFA
