Money, according to Wikipedia is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a particular country or socio-economic context, or is easily converted to such a form.
So if that is true, then MONEY needs to have some undeniable characteristics. Typically there have been five of them through the centuries for any money to last any length of time. Scarcity, Recognizeability, Divisibility, Fungibility, and Portability are the original five, but there have been some more added over time and by necessity, that will be mentioned further in the blog.
Scarcity is one that has to be in place for money to work properly in any economy. If it wasn't there would be no value to it and it would not be trusted as payment for goods and services.
Recognizeability is another major factor in what money must be. Whether it is paper, or coins, or cacao beans, it must be recognizable by the accepting party to trust it as payment.
Money must have Divisibility be into smaller units, but still equaling the same value when the smaller parts are together in the same payment. The decimal system has made this very simple with the money we know today.
The next characteristic has to be present, almost more so than the others, for money to work as it is intended. Fungibility is the property of a good or a commodity whose individual units are capable of mutual substitution. So basically it has to look the same across the board according to the denomination. It's kind of hard to tell now what the different money is and what it looks like anymore because governments are constantly changing the printing or design of it.
Portability is the last of the original 5 but still very important. Money must be easy to carry around with you. Would a 55 gallon drum of oil or a 100 dollar bill be easier to carry? Yeah, no brainer right?
Durability has come into play as a factor for any money to valuable in the different economies of the world. For instance, coins had to be able to withstand time and wear. But then over time the power that money extended to governments and rulers, made quality of that durable money became an enormous factor in its value and if it could be trusted.
Today digital currency has brought with it some more characteristics that need to be in place. Security being of great importance, there has to be a very secure way to transfer digitally from one party to the other.
Stability is the outcome, or benefit of a secure system that delivers digitally around the world through the technology of a block-chain that is decentralized and independent of control be any governing body.
We are about to to be a part, NO, WE ARE ALREADY IN one of the biggest disruptions of all world currencies the planet has ever seen. The Roman Empire experienced it and is no more because of it.
Currency is the language that allows for the expression of transactional value between two parties. So, in the digital age we are in, the coming of digital currency was always inevitable. Thanks to Satoshi Nakamoto, known for inventing bitcoin, implementing the first block-chain, and deploying the first decentralized digital currency, it is becoming a reality. Learn more here.
Contributor
Patrick Tate
David Http://markethive.com/david-ogden
