The past, present and future of money

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF MONEY AN ENVISIONING TECHNOLOGY TIMELINE #1 Money is a series of networked technologies. From beads to gold, it has changed shape, and from changing hands to routing data, its exchange has accelerated, expanded & multiplied. The internet has unlocked vast networks, new behaviors and inventive systems that are redefining the concept of value. WHAT ARE TECHNOLOGIES? WHAT ARE NETWORKS? Technologies are man-made solutions. From taming fire to building bridges, technologies are how we collectively solve systemic problems Networks are interactions between technologies and individuals. Social constructs, like school or entire economies, are governed by the arrangements of networks CENTRALIZED DECENTRALIZED DISTRIBUTED P TOPOLOGIES Networks where nodes connect through dense centres Networks where nodes Networks where nodes Reveal arrangements between nodes connect in clusters connect independently S POWER Takes different shapes Ordered distribution of power Irregular distribution of power Horizontal distribution of power * TRENDS That favor the connected few That favor the selective indiuidual That favor the whole of the network Describe shifts in power Facebook Credits Euros Algorithmic trading WoW Gold Governmenta Bitcoin Bondsy Banks M-Pesa Stock markets Bartering Before money, goods were traded directly between individuals With money, our ancestors offset symbolic value of goods in space and time. Instead of trading a echicken directly for a efish, now they could the e chicken for emoney, and the money for fish (or anything else of similar value) Commodity money Gold, rice, salt, copper, even peppercorns - intrinaic value is given to certain materials to be used as intermediaries between trade points O Flat money Paper, coins and cheques - items without intrinsic value - emerge as symbolic standards for global trade The emergence of nation-states concentrates power around central, regional currencies & Credit As systems of trust evolve, a network of lenders begins to develop. They provide resources to borrowers with interest Access to credit allows nations, trade routes and companies to grOw while concentrating power m Banks By connecting lenders with borrowers, banks create new markets and establish themselves as predominant economic intermediaries In great symbiosis, banks and governments power economy to unforeseen prosperity global i Stocks & Bonds By allowing investment in equity stakes of governments and incorporated business, stocks and ds accelerat centrally organized institutions e the capitalization of Atop extraordinary wealth, centralized institutions become the de facto standard for governance + Global real-time communications O Transatlantic cablen, communication satellites, telephones accelerate the globalization of trust The globalization of money and trade culminates with the internet, creating a financial network of unprecedented scale, complexity and richness # 2 Modern money is a delicate high-speed interplay between stocks, bonds, insurance, securities, derivatives, exchange rates and speculation. Algorithms and complex systems control global finance networks, paving the way for an... WORLD POPULATION IN BILLIONS Should online uner grouth yearaompany pepulotion groudch (amording to UN datal, nearty 0% of the world population will be online by 203 1980 INTELLIGENT & AUTONOMOUS FUTURE OF MONEY 1990 2000 Blased timeline of our history + 2010 Speculative timeline of our future + 2020 2030 2040 2060 ONLINE OFFLINE Banking APIS Specifies software interactions Distributed currencies third-party applications to connect to the consumer's account Currencies will have their value established by networks as well as institutions Today, distributed networks of technologies are gaining the ability to develop and operate currencies - with few intermediaries or boundaries 2 Collaborative consumption An economic model geared toward developing access (not ownership). where consumers lend, awap, barter, share and gift products Peer-to-peer economies 2 Computers are masters of speed and complexity, which, coupled with the right algorithms, are accelerating transactions away from our grasp. Production transaction of goods occurs directly between individuals, not companies * Crowdfunding Draws on the power of crowds and networks to solicit investmenta for particular projects Attention economies When attention is paid, spent, given, taken - or transacted - it becomes influence, which then develops as capital and power to consumers and citizens over institutions Meanwhile, individuals are coalescing and demanding free, real-time access to their transaction information in order to reclaim financial decisions from institutions D Intention economy dumers guide the market by r signaling their intentions of future purchases Digital wallets 9 Are moving a host of new currencies and economies by simplifying transactions Together, we are leveraging the internet to opt out of consumption-centric currency systems. This phenomenon has the potential to upend the infrastructure of retail and develop p businesses that would never exist within the confines of existing institutions O Nanofinance Provide banking services to small businesses and entrepreneurs who otherwise have no real access them For a long view of the future, the evolving concept of value, and its impact on sectors, institutions and industries, read our full technology report: # 3 ENVISIONING.IO/MONEY CC Envisioning is an independent research foundation based in Brazil. ENVISIONING IECHNOLOGY RESEARCH Our global team of academics, designers and hackers study technology to understand accelerating change. FOUNDATION We share our work with our own tools, methodology and design. HISTORICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY FUTURE STUDIES BIBLIOGRAPHY SELGIN, George 2000). Adaptive Leaning and the Transition to Fiat Money, The Economic Journal 113 (404): 147-65. OORE, AL The Puture Sir Drivers of Global Change. Ranaom House, 2013. FERGUSON, Niall (2008). The Aacent of Money: A Financial History of the World. The Penguin Press HC. ROOVER, Raymond De (1942). Money, Banking, and Credit in Medieual Bruges. The Joumal of Economic History, 2, pp 52-65. WESSEL, David. A Source of our Bubbie Troubie, Wall Street Joumal, 17 January 2008. DAVIES, Glyn. A Hlatory of Money: Prom Ancient Times to the Preaent Day (Cardif, 1994). WILLIAMS, Jonathan with Joe Cibb and Elsa beth Erington (eds). Money A Htory (London, 1997). HALE, John. The Cluilaation of Europe in the Renaianance (London, 1993). W. B, Arthur. The Nature of Technology: What it la and How it Buolues. Simon and Schuster, 2009. BAUMAN, Zygmunt. Liquid Modenity. Cambridge: Polity, 2000. BERTALANFFY, L. V. General System Theory: Foundatione, Development, Applications. George Brasiller Ine, 2013. BOURDIEU, P. Language and Symbolic Power. Havard University Press, 1991. DONELLA, M. Thinking in Syateme A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013. GIDDENS, Antony. The Consequences of Modernity. Polity: Cambridge, 1990. ROOVER, Raymond De. The Medici Bank Organination and Management, Journal of Economic Hiatory, 6, 1 (May 1946), pp. 24-52. HARVEY, David. The Condition of Pestmodemity: An Enquiry into the Origina of Cultural Change. Sao Paulo: Loyola, 1992. FERGUSON, Niall and WYMAN, Oliver. The Bolution of Financial Seruioes: Making Senae of the Past, Preparing for the Future (London / New York, 2007). JAMES E MOCLELLAN I DORN, H. Scienor and Technology in World History: An Introduction. Baltimore and London: Johna Hopkine University Press, 1999. KELLY, K. What technology wants. New York: Vaing Penguin, 2010. LATOUR, Bruno, and WOOLGAR, Steve. Laboratory life: the conatruction of acientific focta. Prinoeton, NJ: Princeton Univesity Presa, 1906. NEAL, Larry. The Rise of Pinancial Capitalisme Intemational Capital Markets in the Age of Reason (Cambridge, 1990). pp 1-20. LINDKVIST, M. The Attack of the Unexpected A Guide to Surprises and Uncertainty. 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