Recommended Reading: Money — Past, Present & Future
Title: Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin: From Money That We Understand to Money That Understands Us (Perspectives)
Who: David G.W Birch is an author, advisor and commentator on digital financial services, consulting secure electronic transactions.
Published: 2016
Why: Despite being published in 2016, it has currency (pun intended) and relevance as we embark on a journey of establishing DAOs with community tokens. Well researched content that is delivered in an engaging style with British humor and wit. Draws on experience, combining data with wonderful vignettes and analogies that have Informed my views on the role of money and banks in the context of society and economics.
What: Challenges us to think about future of money, arguing that the transformation should lead to an effective system. not a “chromewashed version of the present” (David G W Birch). To this end we need a new mental model that is informed by social, cultural and economic experiences from the past and present — including lessons learned from M-Pesa in Kenya.
David takes on a historical journey exploring the use of money. This is a variation on what is covered by H. Halaburda (Beyond Bitcoin) and Y. Harari (Homo Sapiens). He explains how cash is different from money, while exploring the technology of money and it’s implications on society.
David also makes references to the tension between less centralization and concerns around regulation, and speaks to the disruptions expected in the finance world — banking in particular. Last but not least, addresses the role of identity plays in transactions and the difference between our notions of privacy and anonymity.
Sampling of Quotes from the book:
The tectonic plates of money are about to buckle and fracture through the combination of technological push and societal (and regulatory) pull.
I think that the future of money will be organized around reputation zones rather than currency zones, which is why I have concluded that communities rather than countries will be the natural currency issuers in the future.
The money created by the communities of the future will be very different from the money of today because it will be smart money.
The more complex and more sophisticated the economy becomes, the more trust matters.
If you would rather listen than read — consider the following:
1. Paypers interview with David (2021). Q&A on topics regarding the future of money.
2. Payments Canada (2021) — David’s keynote address at the summit, addressing differences between electronic money and electronic cash.
3. TEDX Woking (2015) — David speaking about the future of money and wickedly subtle joke about a pho/faux pas.
4. Tokenizing All Assets and Blockchain 3.0 | BIC18 — David’s talk at the conference, speaking about a community currency and constructing a new narrative about money.
