Why Cryptocurrencies will impact every aspect of your life
By Saeid on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE
I, like many others in this area, have come across people who have heard things here and there about Bitcoin and maybe even cryptocurrencies but can’t find a simple explanation on why it matters. I am going to try to focus more on the possibilities it creates and the potential it has in this article, hopefully making it much easier for you to understand the hype behind this movement.
Let’s dive right in…
What are cryptocurrencies? What makes them special? What is their difference with ordinary currencies? Can it have a noticeable impact on my day to day life?
Introduction to Crypto
As you may know, this all started with the rise of the Bitcoin whitepaper.
What most people don’t realize is, if it wasn’t for the timing, it probably wouldn’t have caught on so well. The timing was perfect!
The whitepaper came out in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis. As people were losing their trust in centralized organizations with their money, here comes a technology that proposes a decentralized system.
Bitcoin’s timing, like any successful startup’s, was a great part of its success.
When I came across cryptocurrencies it was, like most people, through hearing about Bitcoin. There was so much excitement around it that I couldn’t ignore. I was intrigued!
When I started researching about the technology behind it, it seemed cool but not as significant as I expected. However, as I researched further into it and really started thinking about the possibilities it can enable, I understood the hype. Maybe even thought we should be excited more!
So, what is this mysterious virtual thing that all these smart people can’t stop talking about?
Cryptocurrencies, simply put, are a form of digital or virtual currency that is secured through cryptography.
Interestingly, the concept of virtual money far outdates the emergence of cryptocurrencies. So you might ask, what makes it special this time?
The characteristic that has made it worthwhile is that it’s built on a technology called the blockchain. There were many problems that existed before blockchain; most notably the security and double spending problem among others.
With the emergence of the blockchain, we solved some of these problems and found a reasonable path towards the solution of many others. But, some might argue, most importantly, it made the dream of decentralization possible. Meaning, we can create systems where no single person or entity can control. This, in it of itself, is game-changing; creating a new realm of opportunities and possibilities.
You might be thinking to yourself, how does this change the current state of things?
Let me give you a couple of examples to maybe get your mind thinking along the right track.
Personal Bank
At a more closer stage, cryptocurrencies can give us the opportunity to become our own bank.
What does this mean?
It means that we can keep our money completely in our control without needing to keep it all in cash and stashing it somewhere. We can simply hold it using one of many different cryptocurrency wallets.
You might say, how is this different from the services that banks and credit card companies offer?
Well, the devil is in the details. When a bank or credit card company is giving you access to your funds through an app, they are giving you a portal into their systems, which they fully control. While with cryptocurrencies, the application that you are using is just a third party app that shows you what you have and what you can do with your funds on the blockchain, which no one controls.
Meaning, if the third party company goes bankrupt or stops supporting it, it has no effect on your funds, you can simply access them through another app.
This has already given rise to cryptocurrency ATMs and even companies which are offering credit cards and other forms of payment methods for cryptocurrencies. It can also mean, the only fee you have to pay for a transfer is for adding it to the blockchain. But even that may disappear.
Rich AIs
Let’s look at it from a more futuristic perspective.
Cryptocurrencies are removing the requirement for owning money to only be owned by a person or a group of people ( a company ).
What do I mean?
Let’s go through a thought experiment.
Today, we are hearing a lot about the advancements of artificial intelligence in autonomous or self-driving cars. Soon enough we will have cars that are completely autonomous. This gives us an opportunity to have cities with no drivers whatsoever. Meaning, possibly no traffic and no accidents! (They can not come soon enough!!)
Let’s imagine for a minute. In these cities, people won’t even have to own cars. We can have companies that have a bunch of these autonomous cars going around town driving people to places. Like an autonomous Uber company. Eliminating the need for parking lots in an entire city.
You might be asking, what does this have to do with cryptocurrencies?
Well, if we take this experiment one step further and introduce cryptocurrencies into it, we can even remove the company. What?!
We can give each artificial intelligence in the car its own cryptocurrency wallet and teach it to manage its own expenses. When you order a car, you would pay in cryptocurrencies which the car will use for its gas and repair expenses.
This might seem a little weird or imaginary, but nothing in this thought experiment is that far away from the current technologies. Furthermore, it shows how machines, and not just people, can start owning and using money, but also how that can open an entirely new dimension of possibilities.
There has already even been talk about artificial intelligence creating art and selling it online for itself.
Someday we might see the first rich artificial intelligence!
Conclusion
I hope the examples and thought experiments have helped you understand the impact that this emerging technology can potentially have. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Much like when the internet was emerging, we couldn’t imagine the changes it would make to every aspect of our lives, there are many opportunities within cryptocurrencies and blockchain in general, that only time will reveal them to us.
One thing that is very important, as Gary Vaynerchuk puts it “The most important thing is patience”. This technology is only getting started and it has many obstacles to overcome. From legal and social obstacles to many technical ones.
If you want to understand what currencies really are and where they get their value from, read this article:
If you want to learn more about how the blockchain works, check out:
I hope you enjoyed this article. I’m very curious to know what are some other applications of cryptocurrencies that you think may make a huge impact on how we live but are not that intuitive. Please share them in the comments.
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