Fiat or Crypto: a short story

The year is 2027. Crypto currency is in vogue, 1 steem is worth $100.

Two friends meet after the school re-union. One, poorly groomed, the other fairly well groomed.

In silence they sit, occasionally glancing at a third, unoccupied chair

After a while, the first man unfolds a newspaper from his breast pocket.

“Here,” he reluctantly passes it.

At the front page flashes a picture of a well-kempt man in suits, captioned: “a billionaire at 29: How did he do it?”

“Funny, Huh?” the first man now speaks, “It was here it started, for all of us!”

“We couldn’t have known,” the other says.

“What? That $100 notes under a mattress were easily shredded by rats? For you at least, predicting how the State emergency would affect banks was difficult.” The first man says, matter-of-factly, echoing their decisions of 10 years before.

10 years before

In the graduation aftermath, the three honorees, each awarded $100 for leading their respective departments, sat around a table pondering the future.

The $100, the Chancellor had advised, needed to be invested carefully.

Protracted pondering resulted in a simple question: Fiat or crypto?

Despite being worth $7, Patel, the Arts major, claimed crypto was the future.

“Crypto! I am going to invest there!”

Ramesh, the computer major disagreed.

“Fiat!” he cut in, dangling his $100 envelope. “Touchable. Visible. Usable,” he chuckled, “Where is your…?”

“Steem,” Raju the economics major sarcastically cut in. He hated banks, and preferred keeping his money where he could see, like under his mattress. So he didn’t entirely agree with Ramesh's idea of banking. But Patel’s block chain idea was more ridiculous.

“Patel get serious! Worth just $7, where is the economic sense investing in steem?”

286 words

Other stories already published under the story-300words challenge

1. Wiser
2. Unsaid
3. Why was the word made Flesh?
4. Unforgiven
5. Judgement Day