Digital Currency: The Transition to a Cashless Society
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Authors
Weiss, Kenneth
Issue Date
2016
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
During the 1800s, the United States banking system was
undergoing a transition to central banking. The history of the
Second Bank of the United States shows that during this shift
there was a debate to determine who should control the
money supply. Today, the world is undergoing a transition to
a cashless society through the use of digital currencies. On
January 3, 2009, the release of Bitcoin (Ƀ/BTC), the world’s
first fully decentralized digital currency, sparked a revolution.
Unlike traditional currencies that are issued by central banks,
Bitcoin has no central monetary authority. Because of
Bitcoin’s growing mainstream adoption, economists have
been exploring the viability of countries adopting centralized
or decentralized digital currencies. Based on this research, it
is too early to speculate if the path toward a cashless society
will be centralized or decentralized. This is because there is
no alternative digital currency that has been implemented. As
today’s world is more globalized, any sort of digital currency
would have worldwide consequences. Therefore, future
research regarding this transition must be taken very
seriously.