Topic: Evolution of Money: From Barter system to Bitcoin (Read 442 times)

Not necessarily will bitcoin take over the world,even the acceptance and usage this season is even overwhelming compared to other season's.Bitcoin is not combating fait at all,with all these revolution,I think the banks are looking forward to revitalize their procedures and methods.Bitcoin is gaining more acceptance and attention,its left for the banks to recognize their failures and innovate better measures to conduct transactions with ease.
Getting rid of fait currencies wouldn't be that fast and easy at all,that will require so much factors,time and efforts to eliminate fait currency.As the world will continue to expand and advance,technologies pertaining to bitcoin emergence will continue to evolve rapidly.

you're absolutely right that digital payment methods have been around for quite some time before Bitcoin's emergence. But as you know world is changing day by day and thousand of invention are coming.  And new forms of money and financial systems are emerging. The existance of the barter system in some areas and the introduction of digital payment methods like you mentioned (MPesa) show that financial innovation takes various shapes and serves diverse needs. As technology continues to advance, we can expect even more changes in how we exchange value and conduct financial transactions. we are living in a exiting world .

Bitcoin is one of thousands of payment options and investment assets. The Bitcoin system is not always accepted in some countries, and governments strongly reject it because Bitcoin has the opposite function to fiat. Bitcoin is too complex and free to make it difficult for governments to do more to control it. With decentralization, the government is unable to implement regulations that have been implemented like fiat.

You might be surprised that the barter system are still alive and well in some rural areas in 3rd world countries and even flee markets in 1st world markets. (People still exchange goods and services)

Then you will be more surprised that digital payment methods have been developed before Bitcoin existed, like MPesa in Africa. (Yes, it is a centralized payment method.... but it was revolutionary at the time) 

Although I agree that the future of paper money is going away and will be completely replaced by digital money or cryptocurrency, I believe that this process will not happen anytime soon. The world is developing very fast but that doesn't mean everyone can use digital devices. There are still limitations to completely eliminating paper money from our world. For example, in my family, my parents are both elderly and even they have difficulty using smartphones. How can they use online payment tools, let alone cryptocurrencies? What about people with disabilities?...there are a lot of problems and I think it's very difficult to get rid of paper money.

Your analysis of the current shift from paper to digital is very sharp. People are rightly looking closely at the standard banking system, which has a lot of obvious problems, like the high fees for sending money between countries. Then came cryptocurrencies, which are supposed to save us. But lets take a moment to think about this critically.

As you correctly pointed out, Bitcoin isnt always our first choice for popular payments. Its main purpose is to protect value, similar to gold. Because it changes quickly, it cant be our daily business savior. This is why steady coins like the USDT are important. But the change to an economy based on crypto isnt going smoothly. Its full of risks and unknowns, mostly because there arent enough strong rules. Cryptos wont really be able to take off until there is a complete system in place for regulating them.

For cryptocurrency to be generally adopted there is need for exchanges to start ensuring that almost everyone have the knowledge of cryptocurrency, the lack of knowledge by everyone is one of the major impediments to the general adoption of cryptocurrency. I know exchanges like Bitget and Binance has a learning academy and you can also learn through their YouTube pages. Also Bitget has an initiative called Blockchain4Youths initiative which is geared towards ensuring that everyone have the understanding of cryptocurrency by giving physical education to them. The initiative has help physical enlightenment session in different countries in this year.

You have made an important point concerning the high commission fees that are connected with traditional banking systems for foreign money transfers. Because of these expenses, cryptocurrencies are frequently a more appealing choice than traditional banking systems. It is without a doubt thrilling and encouraging to look into the future of digital payments. I think, regulations will play a significant part in molding the future of cryptocurrencies and the use of these assets within payment systems. 

Their something we don't understand in bitcoin and fiat currency, a fiat currency is an ancient kind of money and its a centralized currency used by any country, while bitcoin is a decentralized currency that's virtual and is meant to help fiat currency..the objective of satoshi nakamoto to introduce bitcoin is not that bitcoin should be in competition with a fiat currency, but people thinking and mindset is something that is making them to feel that bitcoin is in challenge with fiat currency

Do you know that before existence of bitcoin their is other digital currencies that's is trying to intercept fiat currency...already gold was in existence and people also trade gold, A gold was a currency and it was tradeable too, so even those people you said that needed a decentralized currency instead of fiat currency was aware that gold is a digital currency...the thing is that since the existence of bitcoin many people who understand the usefulness of bitcoin began to embrace bitcoin and also compare it with other currencies.

I agree, Bitcoin is gaining recognition and attention, the path to global acceptance and legalization is undoubtedly challenging. Established financial interests and regulatory hurdles pose significant barriers. but as more people recognize the benefits of Bitcoin and blockchain technology, the momentum for change continues to grow. It's a journey that holds the promise of reshaping the future of money and finance.

As more people recognize the benefits of this digital currency and governments adapt to the changing financial landscape, we may see a future where Bitcoin becomes a more universally accepted form of payment

Barter System to Bitcoin hmm, I think I had encountered many of such topics OP, Tokenization of every asset is today's trend but for the Payment mode, I think Bitcoin only holds that legendary mastery. From time to time exchange modes are revolutionizing. Still, the era of Paper currency aka fiat money to digital fiat money was so disappointing in the timeline where money lost its worth. It was no longer reliable for gaming transactions.

Although Bitcoin is getting more attention and recognition worldwide still we are far away from the emergence of this payment mode to a globally acceptable one in the context of legalization. This model is efficient so it will be a hard journey because it brought transparency, integrity, scalability, and decentralization all we needed together, so it is hard for those who always manipulated the payment mode for personal convenience for various purposes and who are those we all better know.

No fiat electronic money is still leading in the issue of digital money.  Only a small percentage of the population makes use of Bitcoin.  In terms of technology probably blockchain technology is the most recent atm.


Not entirely true, other countries see Bitcoin as a mode of payment, while El Salvador sees it as legal tender, China sees Bitcoin as legal personal property and others are still in a neutral stance without labeling Bitcoin of anything while many still banned it and labeled it as illegal currency.

I understand that summarizing complex historical topics can be challenging, and it's important to acknowledge the depth of these narratives. My intention is to highlight the emergence of Bitcoin. The comment that I have made wasn't meant to complex the subject but rather to highlight the profound impact of historical history on the emergence of Bitcoin

Hi,ScoobyDu (pàpà)

You managed to synthesize thousands of years of history in 1510 characters, the topic is extensive, very complex, in fact loaded with political bureaucracy, evil, impositions, opportunities, in the same way the appearance of bitcoin is not as simple as an open source that has allowed the empowerment of the people's financial thinking like never before, there is a lot of blood, sweat and tears that reflect economic losses and financial abuse in the 20th century.

 It's true that even after Bitcoin has made significant progress is term of payment, it primarily functions as a commodity and for just investment vehicle.

But as we know recently Ferrari has started to accept payment in cryptocurrency.

The journey to widespread adoption as a legal payment alternative is still underway, but it's fascinating to witness the transformation of money in this digital era, and Bitcoin's role in that transformation is undeniable

The barter system is a condition where we exchange goods because at that time there was no money that could be used as a means of purchase even though this was one of the reasons for the creation of money. As for bitcoin, it is indeed a new innovation that proves that technology and the times continue to advance. Even though there are still a lot of people who don't recognize bitcoin as a legal tender but in the end when talking about development and innovation, bitcoin is currently leading in the issue of digital money which makes this one of the good innovations.
But on the other hand until now bitcoin remains only as a commodity and investment tool rather than a payment system because after all, to equate this as money is also now still not possible because even though a lot of adoption is happening but there are still very few who make bitcoin a legal payment alternative.

You've made a valid point regarding the current status of Bitcoin and its potential evolution as a widely used currency. Bitcoin has not fully realized its potential as a medium of exchange yet.



The potential for Bitcoin to become "expensive" in the future is driven on supply and demand dynamics.
 
Bitcoin becoming a widely accepted and used currency is on a journey that involves various technological, regulatory, and societal factors.

The goal is to reduce the cost by eliminating all the intermediaries that charge extra fees for their services. The idea was to promote the usefulness of the P2P trading system and the risk of using centralized authority for any financial movement. Paper cash is old-fashioned, and electronic currencies will take over the financial system one way or another. This can be done by CBDC or BTC but it is the future of our finances.

What has been attempted is a method through which suspicious entities and transactions can be detected, and that method, initiative, or software is AML, through which all suspicion activities can be monitored, including large fund transfers and continuous flow of funds. Good luck in one account and cross-check watch vs. watch lists. Apart from this, this software is not only limited to cryptocurrency; this measure can be applied to all assets under AML. But unfortunately, despite all this hype, cryptocurrency has become a nightmare for some countries. In fact, the reality is that their current currency will be on the brink of death with the adoption of Bitcoin. And the government doesn't want anyone to have such a job that they can't put the necessary demands on the people.

Moreover, when the fiat currency ends, the government will stop paying those big bucks that these corrupt banks are preventing the government from adopting cryptocurrency to protect their positions.

So the meaning of saying this is that those people who had a big claim that Bitcoin is used for suspicious activities or money laundering, now that there are measures to detect it, why don't they adopt Bitcoin? This will always be a question mark; these people have nothing but lame excuses to adopt Bitcoin except false promises.

I think that with digitalization, paper money will soon be out of circulation. The development of digital payment methods, the development of the banking system and the emergence of cryptocurrencies prove this. In this period we are living in, digital fiat money is already widely used, but even though it is used digitally, it has inflation due to its fiat feature and is used physically. Cryptocurrencies have become inevitable for payment systems at this point.

Even the high commission fees charged by the banking system for international money transfers are an important reason to use cryptocurrencies. We can include bitcoin in payment systems, but for me, bitcoin is digital gold. Because btc is much closer to gold in terms of value retention and inflation protection. To realize a payment system that will be very common in the market, we will need usdt style coins. With the regulations that will take place in the crypto markets, crypto will be permanent for the payment system.

Money evolves as civilization advances and innovates. Moving from barter to real currency had its challenges, didnt it? Physical cash was flawed by theft, deterioration, and bulk shipping weight. Even with paper money, inflation and centralized control are obvious. Thats the issue

As you noted, Bitcoin changes the paradigm. We no longer depend on banking or centralized authority. We control, right? Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, is mysterious to most people. Although Bitcoin is innovative, most people dont comprehend it. In addition to adapting to Bitcoin, you must understand its underlying ideas and worth beyond financial rewards. If we think its the future, we need substantial education and promotion.

Digital currency should be the last path, but right now we're still not yet use Bitcoin as a currency, so we're in progress to achieve that. Send using Bitcoin would be cheaper when we transact with people in the other country, when people are aware how to use lightning network and most country already accept Bitcoin as a currency (not necessary Bitcoin is a legal tender), that's when Bitcoin price will be very very expensive.

The invention of the internet plays an important role in the creation and implementation of digital currency and cryptocurrency.  @OP forget that before cryptocurrency comes the electronic money.  They are both a subset of Digital currency, electronic money is one that is centralized, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are decentralized.

As technology develops, the ease of money transfer is getting better, I also think that in the future there will be another creation that will outperform the blockchain technology.

Without any doubt the future of digital currencies is very very exciting,and definitely it will be accepted all over the world. As cryptocurrencies continue to develop and mature, it may indeed revolutionize how we handle finances and transactions on a global scale.

Efforts are already underway to develop methods to detect and prevent the misuse of cryptocurrencies for illegal activities.

Various technologies and companies are working on blockchain analysis tools to identify suspicious transactions and entities.

I agree, before we had money there were many steps that lead to its invention, with one of the most important being commodity currencies, however commodity currencies had their own share of problems, like not being fungible, not being portable, a unit of account or being durable, gold and silver solved most of those problems but since their purity and weight were still different we could not call them money yet, it was not until coinage was created and gold and silver were made into coins of equal weight and purity when we finally got money.

You dig deeply to know about Barter system but you did not know or did not mention the Gold Standard.

It is a latest international monetary standard and there are Bitcoin maximalists who hope to see Bitcoin standard in future.

The bullish case for Bitcoin.
I don't hope like them as I am realistic that governments will not let it happens because they have fiat currencies and CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) to nurture. They will not let Bitcoin becomes a new international standard. At least they will try best to prevent it to happen.

This should be called as the history of the medium of exchange and investment as opposed to money. In the first place, barter is not using money but usually from one goods to another, then we also have precious metals like gold and silver - it is only later that the concept of modern money came in most especially with the printing of the fiat money. I also agree that while Bitcoin can function as money it also represents many things as antithesis to the traditional financial system that is controlled by the governments.

Antithesis is definitely the right word for this, bitcoin was created by Satoshi because he wants people to have more control over their money and that they're able to earn it themselves by mining it directly.
It will eventually, the resistance is coming from the older generation of politicians and people that still thinks that there should be no changes in the minimum wage and that the rent should get higher, once these old and traditional cronies get replaced by the younger generation especially the millenials and those that have an exposure to technology, acceptance of bitcoin is going to be smooth because either the resistance of the government into accepting bitcoin becomes less difficult or everyone agrees that they should accept it for the people. Another would be problem of bitcoin acceptance is probably the banks, they're not a fan of change and so they're definitely going to try to influence the new generation of politicians.

Bitcoin is already getting the mass spread all over the world but the adoption is still limited since not up to five countries have accepted the use for legal transactions. Those that accepts the use have also placed some regulations and restrictions on it which makes it difficult for users to access or enjoy the use of it. After Bitcoin, which was proposed as an alternative to fiat currency, the introduction of CBDC is also paramount to the government to serve as a competition to the decentralized digital currency in which CBDC is centralized. CBDC could be the next successor of fiat but bitcoin still remains the best option for digital currency to be adopted.


If those detectors are created, won’t it sabotage the essence of decentralization and anonymity?
Before bitcoin, they’ve been case of theft in the monetary sector. Those using bitcoin for illegal activity is just to tarnish the name of it. But do you know that funds can still be traced through bitcoin transactions and freeze if legal documents are provided to prove the accused guilty of that. I don’t know how the recovery process will be, which I think is impossible unless there is an identity of personal information linked to the accused that they can easily trace him and make him return the money.

Bitcoin indeed has so many advantages over fiat and CBDCs because it is decentralised and promotes privacy but there is still much work to be done to make it a globally acceptable currency. Currently, bitcoin is mostly used as an investment because of its volatility and this has discouraged many people from using it as a currency. Until bitcoin price becomes more stable, I doubt if it will be able to gain wider acceptance as a means of payment of goods and services. Until this stability happens bitcoin will always be an alternative form of payment. But I also believe that Bitcoin is the future of finance because it will become less volatile in the future but I don't know when this will happen.


The banking sector has not also discovered the solution to the use of fiats to engage in illegal activities because these criminals are always seeking new ways of carrying out their illegal activities. I don't think there will ever be a quick-fix solution to the use of Bitcoin to engage in criminal activities. Money will always be used for good and evil. The use of money for evil shouldn't be an excuse to stop people from using it for legitimate purposes.    

In my opinion, Bitcoin can be termed as an alternative or 'successor' to the fiat currency in some sense. For instance, Bitcoin has a completely different currency value which place the currency ahead of every other fiat currencies by a large difference gap. When the fiat emanated, it also came with it's own value as different dro that of the former.

 I can say Bitcoin looks even more spectacular since it value is strong a enough to hold the taste of time (like the gold which is still one of the most valued gemstones - currencies - in the world for centuries). Second of it is that, despite the advent of the fiat currencies (paper money), it didn't take out the former currency away, it instead worked side by side until the world understood the full potentials and bigger advantages of it before they don't the former for the latter. Same thing is being applied here.

We will continue to use the fiat currencies until people are able to gain a full understanding of how the system works before they will begin to finally dump the fiat for the digital currency.


Bitcoin was just born, recently, which is true. But the purpose why it came into existence can be similar to the emanation of the fiat currencies. When people begin to lose interest in the status quo and begin to see an alternative in the new currency, the world will begin to accept the new changes. The truth is, they will continue to work side-by-side until the fiat currency fades away gradually. And yes. Because Bitcoin is a decentralized market has further given a milestone development in the financial sector. Only that the government will try to fight it's existence as they may see it as a generational freedom since everybody is a stakeholder in the value creation of the currency.

 This shows us how that the world is fast developing, and the development is reaching other sectors not only in the financial sector, we can also see how fast technology is evolving our daily life, we now have digital homes and cars, companies now uses robot to do their work. We are leaving in an advance world now where everything is going digital. I will say Bitcoin is the solution to the financial sector, it is interesting to know how progressives the world has evolved to, we now sit from the comfort of out to run business and even do transactions, have auto pilot cars etc…
  Bitcoin has made a name for its self and will be hard to suppress, soon it will be going mainstream and it will gain adoption in every country. Some big restaurants and hotels now receive payments with Bitcoin. The decentralized payment method makes it even promising cause not every one likes the idea of the government having tap of their money. Bitcoin will be the new big thing and when finally adopted, it will better the standard of living to an extent. Despite  some government restrictions on Bitcoin, it still as it stands because of  it’s acceptance to the world.  

I hope one day bitcoins will be accepted all over the world and that would be a big leaf for mankind because we can get rid of paper money which we know is being used by banks and other governments to put pressure on individuals. If only people could create detectors to determine those people who are using bitcoins for their illegal activities such as drugs and other illegal kinds of stuff, we might have already seen it happen in the past because there would be no more problems after that.

I guess you're referring to trade by barter, then when money was not yet utilized effectively and then people make use of this exchange medium to make trades, now that things have advanced more better from the use of fiat currency to a digitally decentralized currency bitcoin, we also have to move along side with it and make bitcoin our financial modern digital currency by adopting it and also making use of it for our own daily lives financial activities in the economy.

Bitcoin is developed as an alternate to the fiat system used all around the world. Satoshi as a group/individual found this to be something necessary to cut the middle man. He created it for some purpose and it had got used in multiple ways. Before the innovation of bitcoin there were people who are looking for such a decentralised asset and even few others existed and none stood long in the market. As the other innovation doesn't get recognition earlier, bitcoin too didn't got good acceptance. Slowly the progress have taken place and now it have given new dimension to the term money.

The concept that the barter system came before currencies have been debunked numerous times in the past. It was known that people back then had hierarchies of relevance and power, and people are compensated well enough for the work that they put in service of that powerful entity. So while barter was used definitely, it was not the progenitor of commerce and economy. It was money that started it all. But I digress, the point of the topic is how things have gone from simplistic trade mechanisms to the very convoluted economic paradigm that we now have. I say it's for the greater good as more complex means more people are able to enjoy its benefits (at least on paper), especially when we consider bitcoin's existence in this entire ensemble.

In my opinion, bitcoin is not a successor to fiat currency because basically bitcoin is the antithesis of a centralized fiat system. Bitcoin is a big vision and a form of resistance to the centralized fiat system and criticism of fiat money which is always printed continuously.

Bitcoin was not just born, but before the birth of bitcoin there were already groups that criticized the fiat system and wanted a new system that was decentralized and where ownership was in the hands of the community themselves and no one could intervene. This community is called cyberpunk. Bitcoin has high value because bitcoin is a symbol of freedom

The barter system didn't use money. From the word, absolutely.

Why did “your” history of the evolution of money stop at paper money? What about electronic ones, those used in online banking and bank cards, applepay and so on?

What era are we living in? Crypto currencies? Go to the nearest burger shop and try to pay for your purchase with crypto currencies.

For some reason, only a few users “downloaded” the incredible “addon addition” to this history.

If barter didn't use money, then how did it get into the “evolution of money”?

You missed seashells in earlier stages.

Paper money will end very soon. As soon as CBDC is released (mass distribution).

The next step will be CBDC. Bitcoin, at best, will receive a separate alternative "line" of development and application.

Generalizing them as digital currency gives us different options that sounds appropriate, but no doubt, bitcoin is going to be a leading figure among all. Interestingly, we are beginning to see cryptocurrency and bitcoin in movies as normal type of currency, though I understand that it is pure acting, but at least they've consider it as an option. Let's assume that we've all watched M.I.

Introduction:

Money has a fascinating history, from a barter system to paper currency. But now, we are in the era of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency, is an Incredible addition to this history.

What is the barter system?

Barter is the earliest way of exchanging goods between two people without money. People barter goods with each other by estimating the value of two goods.

Physical Currency:

It's complicated to estimate the value of two goods that have been exchanged in the barter system. Then, people find a way by introducing physical currency like silver and gold as a medium of exchange. This mode of exchange has been widely used for transactions for a very long time.

Paper Money:

The Tang Dynasty introduced paper money, which people still use for exchanges and transactions.
This paper money has to end one day, like the barter system and physical currency.

Bitcoin: (Incredible addition to this history)

Now we have Bitcoin, a Stunning addition to this history. That is the future—the next step in the evolution of money. Digital currency makes it easier to complete transactions and manage our money electronically. The need for a secure, borderless, decentralized form of money becomes increasingly evident as the world becomes more interconnected and digital. Bitcoin is the future of finance as it is become more mature and gain broader acceptance.