Have you watched the series “Mr Robot”? This is a fantastic production, however, telling a rather complicated story, in which a group of hackers plan to attack the mysterious corporation E-Corp (apparently it is short for Evil-Corp). The series itself is something on the border of David Lynch’s films and the iconic “Underground Circle” of David Fincher. However, we will not write about movies here. One of the most interesting concepts contained in “Mr Robot” is the “cryptocurrency” E-Corp ….
If you have not seen the series, we hurry with explanations. E-Corp is an evil, international company that the main character of the series has set himself the target. Together with a group of colleagues, he wants to make the biggest hacker attack in history. The crisis thus created is intended to make ordinary people aware that E-Corp is the real power behind the US government.
To make matters worse, American citizens believe more in the currency issued directly by E-Corp than in the currency issued by E-Corp’s ‘owned’ government. At one point, US regulators are even asking for E-Corp to issue an e-currency that people can use. It’s like the Federal Reserve has asked Disney to start spending its own dollars, because this company is more trustworthy than the government. And now remove the computer hack from this story and add a blockchain, and soon you will see that a similar situation can take place in the modern, real world in the case of Facebook, Amazon and Walmart. Is it more terrifying or good for the world?
Corporate cryptocurrency
People from the Blockstamp startup , which develops various elements of the block network, believe that in twenty years ‘Walmart vs. Amazon’ business war will be one of those classic case studies. Just like the competition on the line Gates – Jobs or Microsoft vs. Apple a few years ago. It seems that cryptocurrencies will play an important role in this fight.
Walmart is now applying for a patent for issuing its own stablecoin. The company is talking about “banking without banks,” which may make sense. Walmart today offers a wide range of financial services, many of which are targeted at low-income people in the United States who do not really have traditional bank accounts. We are talking about those customers who, for example, cannot receive a credit card or need a bank account at all, which they cannot have, e.g. due to strict KYC regulations.
Soon, Amazon will also enter the world of cryptocurrency. That’s for sure. The company has its own payment service, which is somewhat similar to Walmart’s because it makes it easier for customers to send money in Amazon’s ecosystem. By the way, guess who just audited Amazon? Federal Reserve! Amazon is so connected to the American financial system. We think you won’t have to wait long for Amazon’s digital currency, which would be a response to Walmart’s cryptocurrency.
Of course, everything will go without hacker attacks. Instead, good old capitalism will work. Walmart’s narrative of “banking without banks” sounds good, but in our opinion it will change into something else. Namely, the cryptocurrency connected to the giant’s supply chain will make the entire chain work better and reduce transaction fees, exchange rate margins, etc. The same will happen with Amazon, whose supply chain competes in size and performance with that of Walmart.
Both currencies can be bull’s eye in terms of market needs. Will the first and second (and third – Facebook LibraCoin) project prove to be a Trojan horse for the current financial system?
What does governments say?
But what will politicians and officials say? Governments have many tools for political and economic pressure, but currency is probably the most effective of them. How did they react to Facebook LibraCoin ? Government suggestions come down to statements that can be summarized: “How dare they consider using anything but our fiat currency?”
cryptocurrency libracoinToday, central banks and politicians base their power on – as they suggest – some knowledge not available to the average Smith or Smith. They use strange, incomprehensible claims about currencies and the entire financial system.
The truth is quite brutal – we pay USD or PLN just because we still trust in these currencies. Why? Because they are emitted by institutions that in our eyes are managed by the wiser than us.
But what if we experience a new, powerful crisis? We will see that the central bankers were not as infallible as we thought. It is impossible? History already knows cases when central authorities (e.g. revolutionary France or Poland during the last months of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) had to threaten their citizens with punishments (even deaths) in cases where they did not want to use national currencies. Anyway, see Venezuela, where the bolivar is only a scrap of paper, which can gain more importance as a form of toilet paper (which is missing in the country), not as a payment unit. If another crisis hits the world (e.g. caused by inflation), it is possible that people will start looking for alternatives to Fiats.
Please note that Facebook has probably linked the LibraCoin exchange rate in fiduciary currencies (interestingly, there are a few currencies in the project’s currency basket, not just USD), but it is possible that in the time of crisis this will become unnecessary and Mark Zuckerberg’s exchange rate will break away from A “stable” connection with the dollar or euro. Seeing this, the global market will switch to Libra – just like today some Venezuelans prefer to keep their savings, e.g. in Bitcoin, and not in their national currency. This would bring down the idea of government currencies and lead the world of economics to a whole new era.
We would not like to be in the skins of politicians who have de facto lost their mandate to govern. It would be almost impossible or at least very limited without its own currency.
When will it happen?
Recently, the world has held its breath, as the Fed has cut interest rates for the first time since the last crisis. As a rule, the authorities decide when the economy catches breathlessness. Now unemployment in the US is low, there is little indication that something bad can happen. Apparently, only those willing to get government bonds are missing … Is this the origin of the next crash? Some suggest that bonds are intentionally not sold and held by brokers. Something strange is happening at the back of world finance …
When the crash finally occurs (and it must be) it is possible that after it we will enter a completely new era of the global economy. Just as the crisis of the late 1920s and early 1930s introduced Keynesian rule in the US, the new reset will introduce new paradigms. It is possible that the era of digital money is waiting for us, or maybe corporate e-currencies (or better – independent cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin). When will it happen? With crises it happens that they rarely happen when someone expects them. Nothing indicates that it would be different now.
