Most people have forgotten how the concept of money came to be in the first place. Things have evolved quite a bit throughout our history and new innovative concepts are knocking on the door already. A recently published infographic about money shows the logical evolution of paying for goods and services. It is clear bitcoin is the next logical evolution, even though its global adoption rate is still relatively small.
Money Has Come A Long Way
In the early days of mankind, things started out in the form of barter. There was no money or standard currency to speak of. Communities shared what they had with one another, and if a trade occurred, it would take place in the form of resources. It seems impossible to picture such a scenario today in the Western world, even though there are still quite a few regions where barter is the primary form of exchanging value these days.
Interestingly enough, it took until 3,000 BC until the first type” of bank started rearing its head. Patrons were able to deposit grain, cattle, agricultural tools and even precious metals. All of these assets would be kept safe from harm for an extended period of time. At that time, the bank would not use these resources to loan them to others and suffer heavy losses in the process, though.
Coins first started appearing in 1,000 BCE, thanks to the Zhou dynasty. In the Western world, metal coins remained an oddity until 687 BC. Coins have been primarily used as a currency for nearly 14 centuries until paper money came to be. Interestingly enough, paper currency was not used in Europe until 6 centuries later The first European banknotes, however, were only printed in 1661. It took nearly 1,300 centuries to get people to use physical currency, yet it may take less than 400 years to get rid of it once again.
Over the past 100 years, things have evolved at an accelerating pace. The first credit card was released in 1950, followed by the world’s first ATM in 1967. Mobile banking became all the hype in Europe right before the 21st century. Perhaps the biggest change to occur in the world of currency is the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, as it is the first global cryptocurrency to gain any form of traction without the involvement of central entities, banks, or governments.
Speaking of Bitcoin, this relatively unknown cryptocurrency was worth next to nothing a few years ago. Fast forward to today, and that same cryptocurrency is worth over US$960 per coin. It is only logical to think the next evolution of money will revolve around Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Now is a good time to invest in Bitcoin, as its current price is still undervalued according to most people.
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