Read more from our friends at Wired
A new day is dawning for precious metals. Gold and silver – the world's oldest money – are "connecting" with the newest money, digital cryptocurrencies. The final outcome of this nexus is unpredictable, but it is foolhardy to ignore what is taking place.
Central governments around the globe have waged, against their own citizens, a virtual "War on Cash." Efforts by Sweden to become "cash-free;" progressive "downsizing" of Eurozone currency units; a currency recall in India that affected 1.3 billion people; solemn talk about eliminating $100 and even $50 bills in the U.S. - all in the supposed fight against "drug dealing and tax evasion."
Will Ben Be Going Bye Bye?
It's really about people control.
The War on Cash goes hand in hand with the imposition of onerous taxation levels, negative interest rates, and destruction of what little privacy we have left.
Historically, nations backed their paper currencies with gold and/or silver. Today – without a single one doing so – it might seem, as some naysayers have observed, that gold is at best a "barbarous relic;" at worst, just a "pet rock." And yet...
The War on Cash has unleashed a hydra. From the invention less than a decade ago of the "cryptocurrency" Bitcoin, to its present-day evolution, a change of monumental significance is underway.
The Foundation Is the Blockchain
Satoshi Nakamoto is credited with the creation of Bitcoin and as part of its implementation, devised the first blockchain database. By definition, a blockchain "allows connected computers to talk to each other, rather than through a central server. Using a 'consensus mechanism' the connected computers on the network stay in sync and agree with each