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Know about new currencies like Bitcoin


Know about new currencies like Bitcoin
Know about new currencies like Bitcoin
Learn about Bitcoin.
© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Transcript

The History of Money in Ten Minutes. Number Ten: Future Money. Minted coins and paper money, once the cutting edge of technology, are now used in only 2% of transactions. Credit card and electronic banking technology has enabled massive global transactions to take place in the fraction of a second, and digital technology is enabling new currencies to be created-- Linden dollars, Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, which exhibit the enduring characteristics of money-- being hard to forge, durable, portable, divisible, and limited in supply, and which may even challenge the power of government-backed money. But until a government accepts taxes in Bitcoins or other privately issued currencies, or banks start lending in them. They're not much different from any other token, such as whale's teeth.

One sign that a new form of money has become important will be when governments and banks try to control it. . And if governments and banks continue to have the power to control money, those who use it will always wonder, to what purpose will they put that power?