I still can't believe sometimes that altcoins are a real thing. Beyond magic and impossibility: a dream! When I see altcoins I always think of them like they are small-medium-large businesses and their value is comparable with the stock index. Because of the immaturity of the market, we see big fluctuations, but something is going to change.
Last test was bitfinex , over 60 mil were lost and the price of bitcoin dropped from 630$-640$ to 530$. When it skyrocketed, up to 600$, it was the biggest market correction ever, showing that bitcoin can't fail and people with "balls" know that.
I regularly check blockchain.info to examine the transactions, and I see a big quantity fluctuating ( with a 1000$ median per transaction). I think Bitcoin will be used in the near future for actions like bank transfers because of its small fees, while we will need another coin for our small daily transactions. I really believe the digital currency will gain more and more space in our daily life. Are steem dollars going to pay for our daily needs in the future? Why not!?
Anyway, our money doesn’t really exist. When people will realize that the dollars in their bank accounts are only numbers, when they will wake up and understand that you don't need to pay a bank to keep your money, when they will uncover the real sense of the value, that’s when we will be free.
I will show you the world as I see it:
No banks – do we really need them? Let's see a list of services that the bank offers us:
- Money transfer - to transfer 1000$ from a bank account to another, you will pay 30$ or more. With Bitcoin you can transfer the same amount and pay near 0,13$.
- Debit card - you can have your own bitcoin debit card attached to your online wallet, no arguments here.
- Loans - the banks give you some digital numbers in your bank account for which you are going to pay between 3%-24% interest rate per year. In this aspect Bitcoin didn't develop at the moment an instrument that can compete with the bank but I believe that btcjam or loan base are a good start and many instruments like these will come out.
- Interest - if you invest and don't touch them for 1-2-3 years, you will get what? 1.3% interest rate per year? What about bitcoin or, why not, Steem dollars, as we are here? The bitcoin price will continue increase and, as you can see, from near 0 at the start - to 600$ is a long way up, and with more people adopting the currency the price will continue to climb more and more. Steem dollar’s interest rate is 10% of the amount that you hold, which is better than any other currency.
No more frontiers - when we will understand that we are equal in each aspect of our life and we trust the same values, then will no longer have frontiers because we won't need them; people that want us to fear each other draw those limits.
No more inequality - we are not so different from each other, we have already globally adopted Bitcoin as our currency. The bitcoin is traded in every corner of this world so why can't we have a global consensual market where we don't draw limits? The people are working in the same manner anywhere around the world, in the same places. Some work for a salary wherewith you can pay your bills, food and a mortgage, while in other places, with the same work, you can't afford more than your food, so you need a second salary to pay for the other things. I really think this situation exists because you have always been paid in the wrong currency.
Shared and open source culture - we produce food for over 20 bill people but half of our planet live in poverty and that’s because they want to keep them that way. What if we give access to technology for people all over the world and erase that invisible wall that we put between people? We all need to embrace the open source culture and share our knowledge. What if an African child had access to the same information like an American child? Maybe he will change his country by himself. We prefer to spend 1,676 Billion Dollars in an arms race, to defend ourselves by who? Yeah, I know terrorism! Give me 1 billion and I will solve this problem. What if the researches for drugs that can cure cancer, aids and other diseases were open and everyone worked together to find a solution, and not for the profit of a big pharmaceutic company?
Decentralized - "Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes its laws" said — Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild. That’s why we need a decentralized currency, that can be used everywhere by everyone and don't need to be bound to something/someone. That is the world that I imagine, but maybe I’m a dreamer and we will never achieve this goal. If we will get there, I want to be part of it. Steemit is a revolution and @infovore is an example of how the internet and people connected by technology can improve not only one’s life, but the lives of many others.
Let's do our best to open the minds of as many people as we can.
To expand on the point you made in the beginning of your article, what's most impressed me about the cryptocurrency frontier is the necessity for us cryptoneers to take more care with our finances. I admit that this lesson was a tough one for me to learn. Part of the crow I had to eat was realizing how sheltered I've been by the Regulatory State.
Over the long term, reclaiming responsibility - and being glad to shoulder the associated burdens of doing so - will be the "black swan" effect of the cryptocurrency revolution. We'll learn in our guts that more freedom entails more responsibility and more care.
One of the fascinating aspects of the altcoin space is seeing old frontier customs being rediscovered after they've had decades of dormancy. The most heartening one is the old-fashioned volunteerism where folks will drop what they're doing to help other out of a scrape. It's almost like living in the Old West where folks will spontaneously assemble to act as a rescue squad or a posse in the good sense. This ethic spreading will get a lot of people taking a second look at the Regulatory State...
Great article. The entire cryptocurrency world amazes me. The freedom of using Bitcoin has made me realize that we are literally regulated to death and it is getting worse every year.
Very interesting. I'm so new to the world of crypto currency that the ramifications of what you are proposing go straight over my head. But, I do agree with you in principle. Well done.
Great post..I feel the wind of change a coming :-)