Rik Willard
@rikwillard
Founder and Managing Director @ Agentic Group LLC
Agentic Group LLC
Rik is a thought-leader in Blockchain and New Value (Meta-Asset) applications over a wide range of use cases.
Why does the blockchain matter for the future of money?
In the new recently was the rapid decline of cash in the Swedish economy and the reduction in bank robberies that they attribute to this change. The banks have slowly closed branches and reduced the number of ATM. This is a precursor to what might happen in other advanced economies and if so what does the blockchain have to do with it?
It matters a lot. The Blockchain (or rather the many different blockchains to come) are the ledgers by which transactions will be tracked in the near- and certainly the far-future.
It also shrinks the footprint of money down to your mobile device, which means that ATMs and even cards become uncecessary in many cases. Thieves who make a living stealing cash from banks will find no cash to steal.
However, this does not mean that theft will vanish. It will sinply go online. The Blockchain adds an extra security layer to the process and is better than what we have but it's pretty much impossible to stop malicious hackers completley.
As we evolove in this space, of course, we will becoem more sphisitcated in how we deal with these issues.
Actually, it is being embraced by banks... to a degree. Many glopbal banks are exploring Blockchain technology as a way to increase efficienies in money transfers with increased security.
That said, these are largely proprietary blockchains not based on the bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin itself is not smiled upon by the banking world to a large degreee because it challenges their monopoly as the holders of value in the world. Bitcoin is a threat to that hedgemony.