31 years ago, the prophecy was revealed, can Bitcoin become the global unified currency?

Bitcoin has been born for ten years. As the most successful application of blockchain, until today, many people still do not understand and question it.

In the eyes of those who like Bitcoin, it is the existence of "this thing will go out of the world"; in the eyes of those who do not like Bitcoin, it is a Ponzi scheme, a tulip bubble, and a conspiracy tool of the government consortium.

Beginning with the disappearance of Nakamoto, these years of discussion about the mysterious story behind Bitcoin have never stopped, including one of the most reminiscent of the true story: 31 years ago, someone successfully predicted the arrival of Bitcoin.

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Prophecy of The Economist

In January 1988, The Economist published an article titled "Preparing for the World Currency," and the cover of this issue was printed with a phoenix rising from burning bills. There is a gold coin engraved with the words "Phoenix, 2018" on the neck.

In the article, the anonymous author predicted:

“ After 30 years from now, Americans, Japanese, Europeans and other rich countries, as well as people in relatively poor areas, will pay for the purchase in the same currency. The price unit is not the US dollar, nor the day. Yuan, Mark, but Phoenix Coin."

As the meaning of the picture: "Phoenix" will replace banknotes and become a new world currency that can avoid the financial crisis. In reality, Venezuela is a typical example of "proving that bitcoin exceeds the value of banknotes."

The author also wrote: "With the continuous development of technology, these transactions will be cheaper and faster… its value to the national currency will no longer be important, because people will choose it because of its convenience and stable purchasing power. ""

“Transactions are cheaper”, “faster”, “global”… These characteristics that the author envisions coincide with Bitcoin.

At the end of the article, the author predicts that "the rise of the Phoenix coin around 2018, the world welcomes its arrival." Unfortunately, at the end of 2017, Bitcoin was known for its skyrocketing world, and in 2018 it was mainstream media and television around the world. It is widely reported that the lightning network has experienced explosive growth from 0 to 1, and its own technology development is very active… Even Bitcoin developers say: "2018 is the best year for Bitcoin."

I have to say that if Nakamoto did not read this magazine 11 years ago, the predictions of The Economist magazine are too accurate, just as the birth of Bitcoin is destined.

The dream of world currency has always been

In fact, the 1988 Economist article is likely to reflect the desire of the financial elite at the time for a new world order.

In the first five months of this article, on October 19, 1987, this day became the famous "Black Monday" in the financial world – the Dow Jones index fell 22.6% in 24 hours, from Hong Kong to New York to London. The stock market all suffered a devastating plunge.

Many people were surprised after the stock market crash. Because there was no news or news that was unfavorable to the stock market at the time, the decline seemed to be unrealistic. Many people at that time suspected that market failure or economic imbalance caused many people to start mainstream finance. The organization has doubts and believes that there are big problems in the monetary system such as the US dollar and the Japanese yen.

It can be ridiculous that it can only be stopped but it cannot be stopped. It is not surprising that people have a desire for a "new world currency." In fact, the idea of ​​a single currency in the world has been circulating for thousands of years.

In the 5th century BC, Greece, as a country with a highly developed commercial civilization and controlling the most important silver mines of the Mediterranean civilization, its fictitious currency, Drachma, became a hard currency in international trade. But later, as the goods of Islamic countries circulated in North Africa and Asia, the Dinar, created by the Arab Empire, took its limelight.

Song Hongbing, the author of "Currency Wars", also said : "In the 1960s, many people were working together to promote the world's single currency. This is not a new concept, nor is it that no one has tried it. In fact, everyone tried it, and finally because of power. For the reason of comparison, the dollar has the upper hand."

Ten years after the prediction of "Phoenix", The Economist magazine once again proposed the concept of "the same world, the same currency." If we think of Bitcoin, will its emergence make the "unified currency" a reality?

Will Bitcoin become the world's unified currency?

In March last year, Twitter founder Jack said that Bitcoin will become the world's single currency within ten years. He said: "The world will eventually have a currency, and the Internet will have a single currency. I personally think it will be bitcoin."

I have to say that Jack is really a bitcoin loyalty powder. If the world really has a unified currency, then the benefits are obvious:

Extremely high efficiency: capital is not bound by the region, moving to a bigger market, creating more trading opportunities and stimulating the production of more goods…..

The cost of the bottom: the cost of cross-border remittances, travel expenses, and the cost of online shopping online will decline…

However, the global single currency also means that all countries will lose important tools to control their economies.

For example, the Greek crisis in Greece in 2009. At that time, Greece encountered serious financial difficulties, but as a member of the euro zone (abandoned the French currency Drakema many years ago), it could not implement an effective monetary policy for the country, so it was caught in a long-term economic dilemma and could only rely on countries such as Germany and France. The date of the rescue loan.

If the global single currency emerges and the state loses its ability to control the currency, the only lever for individual countries to control the economy is taxation and capital controls (trying to limit currency in and out). Over time, it will lead to economic sluggishness or economic crisis, and at least one country will decide later. Re-establish your own currency and restore control that they have lost.

Therefore, neither Bitcoin nor Phoenix Money can become a global unified currency.

As a form of new currency, Bitcoin exists not to replace a certain kind of legal currency, but to form a competitive and restrictive relationship with the existing legal currency system. Like Venezuela and Iran, anyone who suffers from the law will find a way out of it.

Author: Ma Shaka

Source: Block wave

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