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History of money
The historical development of money
History of money
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One of the constants of currency is that it is constantly changing. Sometimes these changes are for the worse, and sometimes they are for the better. Changes in currency can cause prosperity or famine. Currency is reaching another stage of development due to the introduction of computer technology. Virtual currency has become a possibility for the future, and bitcoin is exploring that new idea. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that has the potential to be the future of currency and comes with both advancements and detriments. Currency has taken on many forms in its long history; however, future advancement might be closer than what we think. Kashmir Hill, a reporter writing for Popular Science magazine, explains that throughout the history of currency, it has gone through massive and constant change (Hill). These changes helped to advance currency into its current state. The first disruption to money that came from the introduction of technology is bitcoin (Hill). Bitcoin is the way currency is advancing in the modern age after a long history of change. Bitcoin holds value in a fundamentally different way than conventional currencies. As John O McGinnis, a law professor at Northwestern University, and Kyle W Roche, a lawyer at Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP, explain, “All modern fiat currencies depend on trust in a …show more content…
These advancements are possible due to the digital aspect of bitcoin, having transactions work similar to an email and allowing an easy way to send and receive bitcoin(Hill). This ease makes digital currency very convenient to use. The process of bitcoin creation is described as “Every 10 minutes, new Bitcoin enter the system. "Miners" donate spare or dedicated processing power to help validate transactions around the globe. Bitcoin come as rewards for that work.” (Hill). These show advancements that bitcoin has made to currency, but these advancements do not come without
To fully understand Bitcoin, you need to have a basic understanding about how traditional currency works. Currencies like the dollar bill and the Euro are backed by a central bank. This central bank is controlled by one or more countries. The dollar, for instance, is backed by the US government through the Federal Reserve System. The only reason people have faith in the US dollar is because it is backed by the US government. Consumers therefore, have faith not in the physical currency itself, but in the government behind it. The only value in currency is the faith we place in the country controlling it. The controlling government has complete control over the currency it backs. For example, every dollar bill is marked with a specific ID number. This allows the government the ability to track the bank note through the global market...
Goodale, Gloria. "Rise of Bitcoin: Is the digital currency a solution or a menace? (+video)." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
The world is becoming increasingly more accessible due to the internet; specifically for monetary transactions such as shopping and banking. In 2009, a group of people under the name “Satoshi Nakamoto” created the Bitcoin, a form of digital currency that can be used to conduct transactions on the internet. In the past six months, there has been a sudden spur of popularity for the Bitcoin, which increased the coin’s net worth, as well as stock prices for investors. Its stocks started accumulating investors in September 2013, at roughly $130 a share. Now in 2014, a share of the Bitcoin, sits at approximately $600. On a purely economic level, the Bitcoin may appear to be a promising investment of both money and hope for the economy in the future as technological advancements make improvements in our day-to-day lives. However, the very thing that is attracting investors is also sending red flares to government officials – uncertainty. A virtual currency is innovative and a very new concept to the society which we have today that is caught in a limbo between holding onto the old and transitioning into the new. The Bitcoin generates an interesting outlook on global politics and economy in the 21st Century. The virtual currency analyzes the threat of a foreign currency within a state, the possibility of a potential global currency and the technological economy of the future.
The topic that I’m going to write about in this paper will be on the electronic currency released in 2009 known as Bitcoins. Bitcoins is a type of currency that entails computer software to be used with one person exchanging with another person for a different kind of trading option such as the US dollar, products or services. There is a fourth reason why Bitcoins can be exchanged which is done when a person is mining, that occurs when a participant acts as a mediator for transactions whereas mediator approves and documents. Bitcoins is one of the largest and first electronic currencies ever created by any developer including the makers Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoins doesn’t meet the characteristic guidelines to be considered an actual type of currency, though the US Treasury recognizes it as a type of decentralized currency in that no person or organization including governments oversees the transaction of Bitcoins.
Imagine a world where there are no banks or even a need for wallets. This may sound like a nice freedom at first until illegal activities sky rocket; including the drug and sex trade. The economy will crash and millions of people will be left high and dry with a worthless currency. This type of chaos will not only devastate the United States but will also be seen world wide. With the way technology has been advancing this could be a very plausible future, thanks to Bitcoins. Bitcoins are a new form of digital currency in which the consumer uses and stores all of their money on a computer. This allows for quick trade, not only within your own country but others as well (Ethley par. 2-4). Although there may seem to be great benefits that Bitcoins offer, they are actually more damaging then beneficial. Bitcoin use will have a huge negative effect on the economy, they are filled with security issues, and support criminal activity due to their anonymous nature.
The major technology change that has had the greatest impact on the quality of my life is the spread of uses for the Internet. The wide range of uses for the internet has extremely benefited my life. I use the Internet to keep in touch with my family from College and with my brother who is in the Air Force in Georgia. I also use the Internet to talk to my long-distance boyfriend so my phone bill doesn't get too large. I also use the Internet in a highly educational way. Not only can I take my college courses online (which is much better for me because I teach myself much better than a professor or teacher can teach me), but it can teach me about anything else I would like to know.
Money has evolved with the times and is a reflection of the progress of man. Early money was a physical commodity, grain, gold or silver. During the vital stage, more symbolic forms of money such as certificates of deposit, bank notes, checks, letters of credit, bonds and other forms of negotiable securities came into prominence. Social development transformed money into a trust, “In God We Trust' it says on the back of the ten-dollar bill.” (The Ascent of Money, 27)
According to its semi-official definition, a cryptocurrency is “a peer-to-peer, decentralized, digital currency whose implementation relies on the principles of cryptography to validate the transactions and generation of the currency itself.” (While that is one dense slab of prose, to be fair to the cryptoids, it wouldn’t be easy to define the dollar succinctly either.) What this means is that Bitcoin and the rest are electronic currencies created and transferred by networked computers with no one in charge. The role of cryptography is not merely to guarantee the security of the transaction, but also to generate new units of the currency, which are “mined” by having computers solve complicated mathematical problems. Once solved, new coins are created and their birth— with digital signatures guaranteeing authenticity and uniqueness—announced to the rest of the system.
Bitcoin is a digital currency, similar to cash due to the fact it is instant, however, is not managed or controlled by a central government or organization. Instead, the network is run on thousands of independent user’s computers. None of these computers have more control over the network than any other computer. The network that Bitcoin was founded upon is based on 40 years of research in cryptography and over 20 years of research in cryptocurrencies by thousands of researchers around the world. Bitcoin answered what was thought to be an unsolvable math problem known as the Byzantine Generals Problem.
Firstly, an insight into crypto-currencies, what they are and how they can benefit the worlds economy. A crypto-currency is ‘digital medium of exchange’(RhettandLink) - managed through extensive encryption techniques known as cryptography. Comparable with fiat money, no group or individual can stunt, increase or abuse the production of crypto-currencies. No economic systems can regulate the production or value of the currency, the system that crypto-currencies are based upon was created by Satoshi Nakamoto - purposely creating Bitcoin which the practise of fractional reserve banking would be virtually impossible. Bitcoin is currently the most successful crypto-currency to date - created in 2009, this anonymous decentralized digital currency has been the target of several raids and hacking sprees; the media are contemplating the significance of Bitcoin in our current worlds economy. Whether it has potential of overruling fiat-currencies or if it’s just a puerile project created by the aberrant Satoshi Nakamoto.
The invention of money was a major improvement in peoples’ lives. In the past, people usually had to travel all day to find the person who is willing to exchange their goods. In addition, the goods people want to exchange did not have the standard value of measurement. This led to unequal exchanges. Furthermore, it is not convenient to carry heavy goods from one place to another for an exchange. To solve these issues, money will be the only solution. Later, people tend to develop money from cowry shells to credit cards for the convenience and to improve their society.
Another example of the change in our technology over the last century is the change in the computer. In 1946, the first electronic computer called the ENIAC took up the space of a large room. Instead of using transistors and IC chips, the ENIAC used vacuum tubes. Compared to many computers now, the ENIAC is about as powerful as a small calculator. That may not be much, but it is a milestone because there would not be computers today if it were not for the ENIAC. As the years passed, the computer became smaller and more powerful. Today, more than half of the American population has a computer in their home. The personal computers today are thousands of times more powerful than the most powerful computers fifty years ago.
The invention of money is perhaps one of the greatest achievements of human civilization. From the very beginning of society, people have used money to circumvent the difficulties of bartering and to foster trade and commerce. Since then, money has come a long way. No longer do we need to rely on silver coins, cocoa beans, or even anything of intrinsic value to conduct our business; today, we use paper currency, which is convenient and easy to carry around. But slowly, we are moving into the digital age of money, an age in which less of our money is actually tangible and more of it is just data on a computer server.
Daily in the USA about 38 million banknotes of various face value for total amount about 541 million dollars are issued (Facts about USA money).Dollars involve deep consequences both for the USA, and for other countries. Increase of its course relatively reduces the volume of export revenue in dollars, quite often involves more considerable, than change of an exchange rate, falling of the world prices, especially on raw materials. On the contrary, decrease in a dollar rate serves as the powerful tool promoting growth of the American export and a pushing off of competitors of the USA in foreign markets. At the same time import to the USA owing to effect of a rise in prices restrains. Thus, for the USA changes in the exchange rate of dollar anyway bring benefits and advantages.Reduction of leading positions of the USA in world economy is assisted by the international role of dollar which remains the main reserve and settlement means in world monetary system. Foreign currency reserves of the central banks of other countries for 61% consist of dollars, nearly 2/3 calculations in world trade are carried out in dollars; the dollar serves as a measure of value of many important goods (for example: oil) in the world market; in dollars 3/4 international bank crediting is made (Aleksandr Popov). Changes in the exchange rate of dollar involve deep consequences both for the USA, and for other countries. Increase of its course relatively reduces the volume of export revenue in dollars, quite often involves more considerable, than change of an exchange rate, falling of the world prices, especially on raw materials. On the contrary, decrease in a dollar rate serves as the powerful tool promoting growth of the American export and a pushing off...
Another big change that computers have made in our everyday lives is that with the internet we can now access information about just about anything, at any time, and we can do this from the comfort of our own home. Credit cards can be used to do on-line shopping at virtually any store. E-mail has changed the way that people communicate, it is usually free of charge and mail is sent and received in minutes. Devices such as video phones and web-cams make video conferencing possible. This allows people to see who they are talking to in “real-time” even if they are on opposite ends of the map.