The surge of technology has revolutionized almost every aspect of life—from changing the way users shop to creating innovative methods of examination in the medical field. This, in turn, has caused the demand for digital currency to sprout.

 

According to a survey, a vast majority of users preferred to pay with either debit or credit (77.5%), between 2013 and 2016, as opposed to cash (10%). While plastic cards seem to be revolutionizing the way money is traded, it is also important to question its rise; in particular, who’s controlling our money?

These plastic cards are being traced by centralized banks; furthermore, the government—making cash transactions, practically, the only method of untraceable trade.

 

Recent news has revolved around the astonishing rise of bitcoin. Bitcoin is an unconventional method of currency; in specific, cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency serves the same purpose as currency—to make purchases, so what brings the gossip?

 

Japan can be accredited for the rise of bitcoin, as, at the time of publish, it composed over 50% of all trades. The currency exchange rate lays at 1 BTC is 6,300 USD—to add, the value of one bitcoin was merely 1017 USD starting 2017.

 

Furthermore, the government formed a negative stigma around cryptocurrencies to dissuade the public from adopting them. The most renowned reason being that it could not be traced, so it could be used for illicit transactions. An infamous example being Silk Road—one of the most popular drug and weapons market on the deep web (part of the internet hidden to the typical internet user) which was shut down by the FBI in 2013.

 

Banks facilitate and protect the government from money laundering-conviction—which is found in the magnitude of various different bank fees. Point is: the government cannot track or control bitcoins, so it deprives them of power.

-Fernando Soto