It must be declared that I am not one of those people that believes every single conspiracy theory that one may hear about fiat currency nor one of those that considers crypto to be a straight path to guaranteed riches. Some may even accuse me of being rather negative towards crypto at times. Yet I still believe that cryptocurrency is important to me; if more for its potential possibilities rather than what it can offer for me at this current moment in time.
My current preferred crypto is of course Steem; I am definitely not one of those people that have invested large sums in mining or have jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon when prices started to get out of hand. It is the concept of making use of cryptocurrency as a means to ensure that content creators are fairly rewarded that truly appeals to me. Cryptocurrencies have the potential to be more than mere currencies, their systems can be developed to serve a wide range of purposes and where that could lead, nobody really knows. It depends upon the creativity of those working within the field.
The vast majority of cryptocurrencies that dominate today may not have a great long term future, but that certainly does not mean that cryptocurrency is doomed to fail; in fact I believe the complete opposite. The cryptocurrencies that currently dominate markets are merely the beginning; the earliest, crudest versions of a concept that will later get adopted by the masses, when the time is right. By then, cryptocurrencies will have ceased to possess the imperfections that have so far prevented them from entering the mainstream. The cryptocurrencies of tomorrow are likely to be more secure, less volatile and quicker to transfer than the dominant players on the exchanges today.
Will we ever see a nation abandon cash in favour of crypto? Cryptocurrencies are likely to appeal to governments that can adapt them to suit their needs; when every single transaction on a blockchain is recorded, tax evasion could prove to be a near impossible task, should all citizens of a nation be forced to register on a national blockchain currency system. That will and should scare many people, but it is a reality that we may one day be forced to accept. Rather than cryptocurrency becoming an alternative to the old system, it may become the new foundations of that system.
However, in a day and age where certain large corporations can be said to generate more wealth than most small nations, is it possible that corporations will create their own cryptocurrencies, thus assuming financial power that was once limited to entities that could consider themselves to be independent sovereign nations? This could allow them to better serve customers, or give them more power over consumers; it is all dependent upon the choices that they make, for better or worse.
Nobody knows where things are heading, but when you see governments worldwide attempting to stop the rise of cryptocurrencies in their tracks; you know that there will be some power struggles for years to come. Cryptocurrencies do not represent the first time in human history that a form of currency has existed independently of a nation state, but they may very well be the first currencies that could overtake national fiat currencies as the preferred means of exchanging goods and services.
Cryptocurrencies are certain to one day play an important role in our lives, even if nobody is entirely sure when. Therefore, I’d recommend that everybody at least dabbles in crypto, if only to gain a better feel for how it works or what it could eventually become. Maybe you can one day make use of that understanding to allow cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies serve as force for good. It is for that reason that cryptocurrency is important to me, and why you should probably consider its importance too.
This post is a submission to CoinGecko's ”Why Cryptocurrency Is Important to Me” Writing Contest