5 years ago if you ask your average person about using an e-currency like bitcoin, they would have laughed. Of course, those same people would have said the same thing about something like online shopping, not too long ago before that. But now as many as 96% of Americans have made an online purchase in their life and 80% in the last month alone. Heck, even senior citizens spend as much as 2 and a half hours per week shopping online.
Like it or not, change is inevitable.
For those that don’t know, bitcoin is a type of digital currency. It was created in 2009 and since has seen many ups and downs. Today a single bitcoin is worth $1,249.90.
Still, it’s not a perfect system and experts agree the system needs a major overhaul to remain relevant. But bitcoin isn’t the only game in town, eyeing the future of cryptocurrency. (Cryptocurrency — ie: bitcoin, is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.)
The rumor is that the United States government and the European Union have both been looking into developing their own bitcoin type system for years.
Imagine a world where there would be no more physical money – no more pennies in your pocket or torn dollar bills. Sounds crazy, right? But it’s very much a possibility and if the insiders are telling the truth, it’s something currently in development.
For now, they are calling the US version the Fedcoin and financial gurus are saying not only is the US Federal Reserve working on making it a reality, one day (maybe not so far off in the future) you’ll be required to use it.
When it comes time to get paid by your boss, you won’t get a paycheck, you’ll be issued an e-currency credit. There will be no more “money”, in the traditional sense.
Think this is just crazy sci-fi? Think again. The Bank of England issued a paper discussing their own issues for a digital currency in 2015.
In America, in June of 2016, central bankers from 90-some countries met behind closed doors in Washington D.C. and conferred with bitcoin experts. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen opened the conference, which included the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Bank for International Settlements.
So what’s the problem with e-money? Well, the big problem becomes privacy. Now every single transaction ever made becomes trackable. Think about being in Vegas and that time you won a few hundred bucks on the slots. No big deal, right? It becomes immediately trackable in an e-currency situation.
So does anything you want to spend money on – porn, drugs, prostitutes, guns. Big brother will be able to track every single transaction you will make – and we mean EVERYTHING.
There will be no privacy. Everything you ever make and ever buy will be visible by the government.
A Fedcoin will give the government the God-like ability to track wealth.
Sure they can try and justify it as a means to prevent criminal activities such as drug dealing and money laundering, but in the end, we also know what else they can do with that information. Information is power.
Digital money will be in our future. The question isn’t if it will happen, but when.
And Lord help us all when it does.
