The Difference Between Money and Cryptocurriencies and Why it Matters

“If you’re looking ahead, wanting to do something, but you’re waiting till all the lights turn green, you may never get anything done!”

When my first wife and I were contemplating starting our family, a wise person said something to us that has stuck with me ever since. We were debating should we, shouldn’t we, if not now, when? He said to us, “If you’re looking ahead, wanting to do something, but you’re waiting till all the lights turn green, you may never get anything done!” Definitely words to consider.

The Excuses and Fears

Those of us into Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchain, ICOs and the entire crypto-community have heard it all. It’s a scam. It’s a bubble. It’s not “real” money. It’s doomed to fail. It’ll never work, and other excuses or objections. Let’s explore some of these for a few moments to shed some light on why, possibly, none of this matters.

To start, we must ask ourselves, “What is money?” Google it. You’ll see the definition of money encompasses 

three primary attributes: [1] First and possibly foremost, money serves as a mutually agreed upon medium of exchange. [2] It must be divisible or, in other words, if a desired commodity carries less value than a whole monetary unit, you must have the ability to portion out fractions of said unit. And, [3] it must be a store of value or wealth.

In the US, the generally accepted and sanctioned medium of exchange is the US dollar, the EU has the Euro, England the pound sterling, and so on. If you’re in Europe and you have dollars, many places will accept them. And no matter where you are, you can always find someone who will exchange your dollars for Euros, pounds for yuen, pesos for rubles, and the like.

What’s the Difference?

Can anyone possibly explain why bitcoin’s any different? Or ether? Or litecoin? Or any crypto-asset? So to argue that these “aren’t real money” is missing the point entirely. None of these assets are declared legal tender in any nation (with the exception of Japan), but that doesn’t matter. Does it?

Are crypto-assets a scam? Built on nothing? Here today, gone tomorrow? Anyone looked at “real money” lately? Once upon a time the world’s paper money was backed by gold or silver. These units actually had value. Today there’s nothing. Nixon removed the US from the gold standard in 1971, and the rest of the world followed suit. Today, no country has their currency pegged to any precious metal. None. Today’s legal tender monetary units across the planet are call “fiat” currencies, meaning their issuing governments have declared them to be valid. The majority of legal tender money in our world is nothing more than numbers on a computer screen.

The Proof’s in the Pudding

And how’s that working out? Seriously, wherever you live, how’s your quality of life? Is everyone prospering? Can you easily make ends meet? Do you feel wealthy? Is your “money” working for you? Do you have to work two or three jobs just to scrape by?

This is really a stupid question, because the answer is obvious and might make you upset, despite major news stories to the contrary. Why did the establishment-sponsored, anointed presidential candidate in the US election lose? Why did the people of the UK and Catalonia vote to separate from their respective political unions? One can practically feel the discontent in the air.

Now ask yourself which is the scam.

Lastly for now, are we in a crypto-bubble?

So if you’re unsure of the value of any blockchain endeavor, what’s really holding you back? If it’s an ICO and the fundamentals don’t pass the smell test, that’s one thing. If you’ve got cold feet for any of the excuses above, where’s that fear coming from? Listen to your gut. Look at the reality of near 0% interest for over a decade with languishing wages and compare that with the 1,260% increase in bitcoin in the past 12 months, just now spiking over $10,000 for the very first time.

What Do YOU Want To Create Today?

One of the greatest benefits of blockchain technology is the secure facilitation of any person-to-person or peer-to-peer transaction. Wrap your brain around that for a moment. Finally, we have the technological ability to conduct just about any business our mind can create without having to go through a gatekeeper, whether that’s a bank, financial institution, or what-have-you. Again, wrap your brain around that. Ladies and gentlemen, we now have the ability to create a people-powered economy. If you want to know the honest-to-God value of a cryptocurrency, just ask someone living in Zimbabwe—their government stopped functioning and the economy came to a stand-still. With no operating banks in the entire country, plus no international transactions could be processed, bitcoin came to the rescue.

Once you’ve assessed all of these fears and weighed them against the proven benefits of cryptocurrencies, it only remains to ask yourself, do any of the excuses and fears people give actually matter? Only you can answer that question.