Jeffrey Kutler
2012-10-27
http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/blogarticle/3108571/Leading-the-E-money-Revolution.html
COINS, CURRENCY,, checks and credit cards — marvels of portable value that have stood the test of time — are eminently replaceable by new technologies
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Still, we are talking about cards. The good news for banks is that they dominate today’s card business and profit regardless of how transactions take place. But money is becoming more virtual.
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Banks are making some moves that indicate they don’t want to let the mobility trend get away from them.
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Meanwhile, there’s another new form of money: virtual cash for Internet transactions. The most prominent brand, Bitcoin, was launched three years ago by an anonymous programmer, and the value of virtual coins on the network exceeds $100 million. Although it fits the digital money definition, Bitcoin has grown virally, outside official banking and regulatory channels, and its core supporters in the fiercely libertarian cypherpunk movement prefer to keep it that way.