The cashless society is a very bad thing - unless it’s decentralized.

Today I read this article and even though I totally knew something like this would happen sooner or later, it still shocked me when I saw it.

The Thai government - just like most governments - wants to “encourage” its citizens to move towards a cashless society.

At the same time they’re introducing an “e-payment tax” for digital payments.

LOL. It would be funny if it weren’t so scary.

Abolishing Cash

I’m sure you’ve heard the term Cashless Society floating around in your country, too.

You’re being told that plastic or digital payments are so much more convenient, and the whole handling of physical cash is expensive, and of course cash is being used for criminal activities and that needs to be stopped, and if that doesn’t scare you enough yet, then just think how many germs are attached to all this cash - do you know through how many different hands it passes on a daily basis??

Fear fear fear - all in the name of getting you to give up your last bit of freedom and getting attracted to a society without cash.

While all of the above may be true about physical cash, the real agenda is of course to have every transaction you make be monitored and registered by a central authority. Bye bye privacy.

And bye bye your money! Because not only will you be charged or taxed for the services of the digital service providers you’re using (which you have no choice over), but if your bank charges you too high fees for your account, or too little interest for your savings (soon negative interest rates, which are basically costs for you as well) - there will be absolutely nothing you can do.

You won’t be able to withdraw your money and put it under your pillow, because physical cash won’t exist anymore.

You will also not be able to borrow cash from someone when the bank or the tax office decides to freeze your account. Because it won’t exist anymore.

My bank account was frozen earlier this year by the tax office, because of a mistake they made. Apart from being charged by the bank for the inconvenience - money which I of course never saw again - imagine this would happen in a cashless society:

My first thought would be to borrow money from a friend. They wouldn’t be able to give me cash, though, because, well, there is no cash. So all they could do is transfer money to my bank account - but that is frozen! Plus, their bank might stop them from sending money to my account in the first place.

Do you see where we are heading?

Decentralization

Now don’t get me wrong - physical cash will go away one way or the other. That’s simply the natural evolution of money. Everything is going digital - why wouldn’t money?

And this is exactly where Bitcoin and other decentralized cryptocurrencies come in: they are digital, but they work exactly like cash. Digital cash.

Unlike credit cards, online banking or PayPal, decentralized currencies based on open blockchain technology, do not need central payment providers in between two parties.

Open blockchains are peer-to-peer networks, which directly connect us, no matter where we are in the world. They work exactly like cash - it’s as if the two transacting parties were in the same room together.

What that means for us, is that we can enjoy the convenience of instant digital payments, not only at our local Starbucks but also to family or merchants on the other side of the world - fast, securely, inexpensively, and most of all: private.

What that means as well, is that no one but us has access to our money. Nobody can freeze our “account” - there are no accounts, only wallets, just like with physical cash.

Other parties can only get access to your wallet if you’re not careful - so protecting yourself and your money is your highest priority in cryptoland, and yes, it’s 100% up to you - which is both a blessing and a curse - but as they say: power comes with responsibility. That applies to personal power and ownership over your money and data as well.

Bitcoin is a self-empowerment tool.

Oh, and it’s germ free, too ;) Best of both worlds, right?

Posted using Partiko iOS