Book briefs

Cryptocurrency – The Future of Money? Authors:Paul Vignaand Michael J.Casey

With the spectacular crash in bitcoin’s price, and the retreat of get-rich-quick traders behind us, comes now the true test of cryptocurrencies worth to the world.

Will more people adopt it in defiance of weakening national currencies and poor economic policies, or will the now threatened financial institutions provide us with money-exchange alternatives that are quicker, cheaper, and/or more readily accepted by the masses (like Kenya’s bank account-less M-Pesa, which allows people in remote areas to send and receive money using only their cellphones)?

The extent of digital currencies shaking up the order is slowly fading as many believe it will only gain widespread adoption through further government recognition and regulation.

Yes, it’s cool to have a currency immune to inflation and third-party misappropriation, but it’s also consoling to know that those with immoral intentions aren’t afforded the same amount of transaction anonymity as everyone else.

Then there’s the question of structure. How confident will people be knowing that they’ve stored their life savings in a four-inch line of code, useful only in making purchases until someone turns off the lights?

To be fair, cryptocurrencies still have a lot going for them, but until we see technophobes using them to pay for a taxi after side-stepping the foreign exchange counter at the airport, bitcoin and its derivatives are going to have to adapt and mature before they win wise and money-conscious grandma over.