Banking, as we know it, has been around since the first Crypto Marketplace were minted-perhaps even before that, in some form or another. Currency, in particular coins, grew out of taxation. In the early days of ancient empires, annual taxation on one pig may have been reasonable, but as empires expanded, this type of payment became less desirable.
However, since the Covid situation, not only have we seemed to move to a “cashless” society, (as who wants to handle potentially “dirty money” in a shop), and with “contactless” credit card transaction levels now increased to £45, and now even tiny transactions accepted, such as a daily newspaper, or bottle of milk, get paid by card.
Did you know that there are over 5,000 crypto currencies in use already and of them Bitcoin features highly in that list? Bitcoin, in particular, has had a very volatile trading history since it was first created in 2009. This digital cryptocurrency has seen a lot of action in its fairly short life. Bitcoins initially traded for next to nothing. The first real price increase occurred in July 2010 when the valuation of a Bitcoin went from around $0.0008 to in the region of $10,000 or more, for a single coin. This currency has seen some major rallies and crashes since then. However, with the introduction of what are called “Stable” coins – those backed by the US Dollar, or even Gold, this crypto currency volatility can now be brought under control.
But before we explore this new form of Crypto-based E-Commerce, as a method of controlling and using our assets, including our “FIAT” currencies, let’s first look at how the Banks themselves have changed over the last 50 years or so.
Who remembers the good old Cheque Book? Before Bank Debit Cards came along, in 1987, cheques were the main way of transferring assets with others, in commercial transactions. Then with Bank Debit Cards, along with ATM’s, getting hold of one’s FIAT assets became a lot quicker, and for on-line commercial transactions.
The problem that has always been present with Banks, is most of us needed at least 2 personal bank accounts (a Current account, and a Savings account), and one for each business we owned. Also, trying to move money from your bank account “swiftly” to say a destination overseas, was anything like SWIFT!
The other issue was the cost. Not only did we have to pay a regular service charge on each Bank Account, we also had a hefty fee to pay on every transaction, and, of course, in very rare occasions we would not get any worthwhile interest, on money in our Current Account.
