Cryptocurrencies, the agent of change!

The world is changing fast and so is the concept of money. In earlier days, people used various techniques to measure the value of goods and services. Trade by barter was employed and soon, some loopholes and shortcomings were noticed and the medium was abandoned. Not long after the barter method was abandoned, there came precious metals and then paper money. Naturally, one would wonder what would be next for the evolution of money. To answer that, we have to look at the rapid advancements in computer technology, driven by the miniaturization of electronics and software advancements. These rapid advancements in software and hardware will naturally enable us to transfer much faster and cheaper bits of information instead of actual cash and will replace the handling of paper/coins money probably within next two decades. Sweden has plans to discontinue the use of cash as soon as 2023 according to sources; this is yet to be officially confirmed.

This is where cryptocurrencies come into place, a decentralized and secure peer-to-peer transfer of value.
While there are thousands of cryptocurrencies in use today, each with a different stated purpose, there are some cryptocurrencies that are designed to help the environment and scientific research, like : SolarCoin (www.solarcoin.org), GridCoin (www.gridcoin.us), CureCoin (www.curecoin.net), FoldingCoin (www.foldingcoin.net), Einstenium (www.emc2.foundation), PowerLedger(www. powerledger.io), hence I posit that those interested in helping to speed up solar power adoption and scientific research should support and invest in the aforementioned cryptocurrencies initiatives.

Although all cryptocurrencies have some noble stated purpose from inception, I believe SolarCoin could be the biggest catalyst to solar adoption, while partially alleviating (energy) poverty!

While looking for solutions to solve global problems at lowest cost possible cost, after reading the SolarCoin white paper , it become apparent that if SolarCoin reaches the right price >$20 , it will become such a strong incentive to solar power producers that will trigger a Tsunami in solar adoption. Considering the current circulating supply of $38 million coins and the price of $2 /SolarCoin, it will take less than 1 billion USD to push the SolarCoin price to $20. I know, 1 billion sounds like a huge amount and it is, however when comparing that with most geoengineering projects that I read about which cost up to $500 billion, 1 billion looks like spare change to help solve two huge global issues : namely Global Warming and (Energy) Poverty. Remember that with the rapid growth of electric cars, the global energy consumption could potentially triple, hence we need an even more aggressive growth of renewables, and I feel that SolarCoin could be the answer to this problem.

Even if the US or other countries move to cut incentives for renewables, the crowdsourced SolarCoin incentive could be the strongest of all.

Some of the poorest countries are also some of the sunniest, thus poor people could get paid while generating and using clean electricity.

What is SolarCoin?
SolarCoin is a free reward that is offered to anyone generating electricity from solar, at the rate of 1 SolarCoin per MWh . Anyone can participate and receive free coins, simply register on www.solarcoin.org .

As the team behind any project matters, SolarCoin has a strong founding team and project developers which include Nick Gogerty (https://www.lykke.com/company/news/nick_gogerty), Francois Sonnet (https://blockchain-expo.com/europe/speaker/francois-sonnet/) and a support network that continues to grow as more people find about the benefits of the solar based cryptocurrency.

When compared to Bitcoin, SolarCoin’s network uses 1000x less energy, costs a fraction of a cent per transaction and it’s up to ten times faster.

I have no doubt that in time due to the network effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect) and the fact that solar power entered an exponential growth, doubling every two to three years, the SolarCoin will reach and perhaps exceed $20, however the sooner the better.

To accelerate the SolarCoin market adoption, I make the case that all cleantech companies like Tesla should accept SolarCoins as a method of payment as it’s a win-win for all and once a large company announces that accepts SolarCoins, others companies will follow. Thus far there are only a handful of forward-looking companies that accept SolarCoins as a method of payment, namely: Lumo- a crowdsourcing platform committed to renewable projects, Smappee- a French smart home energy monitoring devices producers, Ekwateur- a French green power retailer and more recently - ACWA Power a Saudi based company operating in 11 countries.

Similarly, clean tech investors and enthusiasts should take an active interest to invest and promote the SolarCoin, as this can be truly revolutionary for the planet if it reaches the right price.
SolarCoin already received some level of support from organizations like IRENA and Solar Power Europe which strongly endorse SolarCoin, however more needs to be done collectively in order to ensure a bright future for all.

As China is the biggest solar market , it will make a lot of sense for the Chinese government and companies to promote and invest in SolarCoin as the funds will return to them, and 1 billion is a tiny amount to spend/invest which could pay off handsomely.

At present, there are more than 27 cryptocurrencies with a market cap over $1 billion, some of them with a debatable use and founding team. If only a small amount of the approximately 800 billion cryptocurrencies market cap will be redirected to social/environmental causes cryptocurrencies, the world would add a 3rd engine and move faster towards a greater future.

The opinions on cryptocurrencies are divided, and it would appear that the cryptocurrency market is turning into a bubble, however I do believe that cryptocurrencies are here to stay and many of them provide an enormous value to the society, being able to exchange value almost instantly and for a very low fee or for free with anyone around the globe without the middle men, it’s of immense benefit and unprecedented in human history.

We cannot be an advanced civilization and still be trading pieces of paper and coins backed by nothing and regulated by a corrupt government that is run by personal interests, rather I make the case that we should rush to adopt the blockchain ( the technology behind #Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies) which serves as an open and distributed ledger that records the transactions between two parties, rapidly, efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain).

To the skeptics, I have to admit that cryptocurrecies can and most probably will turn into a bubble, so if you want to venture, play it safe, my advice if not to allocate more than 1-5% of your net worth. Similarly to the DOT COM bubble, after the bubble burst, the internet survived and now there are millions of legit and fairly valued internet businesses.
To the bulls, as I previously said, cryptocurrencies are here to stay and help the society become more open, just and free. Just consider that today we have only approximately 3 billion connected to the internet, by 2022-2025 we will have 8 billion connected to the internet, and I believe a big part of the global population will be using cryptocurrencies that will survive the bubble.

Blockchain will revolutionize every aspect of our lives, from smart contracts to the way we get paid and spend money, that’s why is called the “new internet”.
In closing, SolarCoin is another great human invention with an immense potential to take solar power adoption to the next level.

I want to imagine a future where, you not only drive your car on sun’s rays, but you also get paid for generating electricity from sun’s rays.

Another dream of mine is to see the SolarCoin exceeding the price of the oil barrel, would be interesting to see Oil Companies switching to “mining” SolarCoins.

What’s your take on Cryptocurrencies and SolarCoin? Please leave your comments below.

References:
https://solarcoin.org/en/solarcoin-news
https://solarcoin.org/en/solarcoin-forum
https://www.singularityweblog.com/nick-gogerty-on-solarcoin/
http://www.solaritytracker.org/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2017/07/05/how-blockchain-is-incentivizing-a-5000-gigawatt-quest-to-save-the-planet/#60392b631f21
https://medium.com/@sebnem/parte-finale-the-energy-tokens-5b5f7c4fdacd
https://www.pv-tech.org/guest-blog/solarcoin-incentivising-solar-pv-energy-production-through-blockchain-innov