The next generation of currency

By Michael V. Copeland

There was a time when people happily used chickens, pigs, or a nice pile of lumber as payment for a cow, some clothes, or anything else of value. And then some smart people got behind a breakthrough—they introduced currency.

Swatches of buckskin, stamped pieces of gold, and later, paper notes—these were a mighty intellectual and technological leap ahead from that clucking bird. It may not seem like it in today’s world, where cash has a whiff of the downright prehistoric, but paper currency was mind-blowing in its heyday—the first U.S. government-issued currency debuted during the Civil War—because of its advanced features: It was lightweight, portable, reliable (hyper-inflationary events notwithstanding), efficient, and powerful. These are descriptors we might apply to the latest smartphone today.
The point is, currency for hundreds of years has been an evolving form of technology, with the faster, better, cheaper underpinnings found in all great technologies. But arguably, not since the arrival of the greenback has currency been poised for a more dramatic leap forward. Digital currency is finally taking hold.

Driven by two massive technological waves—the Internet and the mobile phone—digital currency is bringing banking to the unbanked; it’s making new forms of transactions financially feasible; and it's allowing currency to do things it could never do when trapped in a physical form.

With digital currency as the stream through which value flows, barriers to truly global trade are poised to fall. The knock-on effect is that the advantage that developed nations held for so long—as hubs through which value of all kinds move—is weakening. As with all forms of digital goods, it’s the most connected nation, or company, or individual that has the power. That does not necessarily mean the nations and companies that have traditionally led the global economy will continue to lead. The fastest, most secure data exchange will win—wherever it may be.

Digital currency acts as a catalyst for all kinds of businesses—large, small, legal, and not so legal. It’s enabling a whole new wave of competition. Whether you are running the corporate show, or investing in it, be prepared to take digital currency on, or be prepared to be left behind.

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