The True Value Of Cryptocurrency

I've been using cryptocurrency for around 9 months now, I purchased my first bit of Bitcoin back in August 2017 and ever since then I've become fascinated with the technology and its possibilities. I began diving deeper down the rabbit hole and was introduced to altcoin projects galore, ICO's, blockchain and an entirely new community of evangelistic investors that shared my enthusiasm but had contrasting opinions on how these cryptocurrencies should work.

Is proof of work better, is proof of stake secure, should we peg it to a dollar value, should we have smart contracts, should we introduce segwit, should we increase block sizes and all these debates raged on in the community and I just kept trying to absorb as much information as humanly possible

I am by no means a cryptocurrency expert but as I learned about coins and the tech I thought it would be easier if I simply blogged about it and kept a central place on the internet for all my research. You can find my blog here - https://www.nichemarket.co.za/blog/tag/cryptocurrency/

I then discovered Steemit and began to blog on here as well for the last 2 month now. Steemit has made it easier for me to gather information on crypto simply by following the right accounts and has really been a great experience so far.

So enough about me and my background, Let's get down to why I wanted to write this post in the first place.

Image from adweek.com

What Do I think the true value of cryptocurrency is

While most of us are focused on the price and what the price could be, when to buy and when to sell which are all good points, the crypto market has been a way to distribute wealth across the world I don't think its value lies in its price. To me the real value of cryptocurrency lies in the concept we are all buying into and slowly getting others to realise as they join the community.

The concept of decentralisation. For years we've felt the best way to get things done effectively is have a central body that regulates the market and that provides goods and services to us if and when we need it. But what we forget is that with absolute power comes temptation and corruption. Many has been made worthless by banks, buying power has decreased due to inflation, money isn't distributed easily, fairly and freely across the world due to monetary policy and self-interest from banks. Banks want to be profitable institutions and will stop at nothing to remain so.

Being a monopoly was not enough for them and they decided to work together with government to create artificial demand, limiting peoples access to money.

While Banks pay you interest have you ever wondered at what cost that little bit of interest does to the economy? They are taking your funds and loaning it out to another sod and charging them fees for it and profiting off your money and giving you a little piece of the action. They are artificially making money more expensive so they can keep shareholders happy.

As they become more and more greedy trying to improve on last years performance the investments become riskier and riskier as we saw in 2008's housing bubble. Once the whole ordeal was unravelled the consumer the ordinary guy got stuck with the bill while your centralised government bailed out your centralised banks and those bailouts were the ordinary man's taxes.

While crypto is a long way off the pace in providing a workable alternative it has introduced the idea of decreased finance. You keep 100% of what earn, you trade how, if, when and with who you want for goods and services without the need for a 3rd party service that punishes you everytime you make a transaction. Your money is to do with as you please and the actual funds are moved instantaneously and can be tracked publicly not like our current system where its all smoke and mirrors and numbers are changed without funds actually being there.

True ownership of money

Having real ownership of your money instead of entrusting it to a central service is an empowering mindset. Since banks baby their consumers and take care of your money the mindset has shifted away from personal responsiblity. If something went wrong we run to the bank and complain, we waste time in queues debating their policies and wanting access to money we gave them in the first place.

Taking full control of the value you've brought into this world can be an overwhelming thought but its something I think will propel us into the future. Giving consumers the mindset of personal responsibility and not giving up our right to privacy and infringing on our civil liberties too. I personally don't want people knowing how much money I have in the bank and then strategically calling me to sell me some product they make commision on, that's exploitation of my data. While I may have agreed to it in my t&cs I was sort of forced into it since if I don't bank I don't get paid so you kind of forced my hand on the issue

With cryptocurrency I subscribe to the services I want, how I want, when I want, I decide the fair market rate for the service and I authorise each and every transaction myself. Think of the mindset future generations would have with this sort of independence, it would ideally lead to a better and more open free market were goods and services are market regulated to demand

Micropayments

While dust currency has become an issue of late in the crypto world and its something im sure we'll figure out how to resolve dust in fiat is a much bigger problem. Having the ability to make micropayments and transactions means money is efficiently spent and moved. Not let me draw 500 dollars instead of a 100 because of the bank chargers and I end up spending more. The reason rules like this are in place is to benefit the bank, not you! They are interested in increasing your spending and keeping you coming back for their value-added services.

They don't want you to withdraw and make frequent high volume transactions, that's a strain on their resources, you have to conform to their rules. You need a minimum this, you need to charge 0.95 or 0.90 cents because 0.99 cent cant work since 0.1 isn't legal tender because its a waste to create a small change in a deflationary market, so what happens to all that lost value?

With crypto im able to pay the exact amount, pay for only what I use when I use it and it's all tracked and agreed to before hand. I can continue or pause service at any time and not waste money from my side and on the business side those resources can then be allocated to another consumer and so drive up effiencey of service, supply and sale. This makes purchasing more frequent and dynamic instead of this binary block purchase system we have with fiat.

Public knowledge

You, your family or the person you trading with can track down transactions see where they are in the blockchain, who the money is with and how much money was transferred at any given time. Making it easier to keep track of.

There is no need for monthly bank statements and going back and seeing where expenses were charged without your permission or how transactions could be validated without you knowing. Its all out there in the open, available 24/7 365 to those who know which accounts to look for and track. This is done at no extra charge to you.

These blockchain explorers will become nifty tools in the future as people learn to handle complete control over their finances. With the low barrier to entry, users will want to take charge more often review their transactions and refine their spending and income to make sure they remain in the black.

Having a centralised service provider like banks has made consumers lazy, many do not monitor their spending and with functions like credit cards, overdraft facilities and short-term loans consumers are overspending and keeping themselves debted to the bank and paying a premium for it. Crypto could free consumers of this mindset of that's how its supposed to be and help us live more within our means instead.

Charity begins at home

Having banks hold your money and government tax us claiming they will use these funds to uplift the less fortunate and downtrodden is probably one of the most inefficient ways to provide charity and relief. Most of that money doesn't land into the hands of the end user. its filtered through beauracrats, mayors, crony business owners, subcontractors, advisors and consultants and when all that is said and done the remainder is used for the actual project if the project ever gets off the ground. The government seems to want to have a monopoly on charity and rob us of our humanity. Many of us, especially in the middle class, are of the opinion that no I don't have to give charity my taxes go to your relief which is a fallacy as i've explained earlier

With crypto, we decide how we want to pool our resources, who execute it and how we execute it. Communities have the power to uplift themselves and make quick-fire decisions that they feel are the best solutions, naturally, they would know more since they are the ones who are affected and would have a vested interest in improving the situation. It not only gives people back their humanity by those who give but empowers those who receive and with everything being publically monitored and with community consesnus and stake hoders driving decisions funds are not squandered or used for personal enrichment.

Have your say

What do you think is the true value of cryptocurrency? Do you agree or disagree with me? Leave your comments below and let's engage in what iIfeel is a fascinating and undersold side of crypto.

Let's connect

If you enjoyed this post and want to join me on my journey into crypto then follow me @chekohler