Neha Narula talks about the future of money in this TED talk.Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are becoming the future of money.In such a world where digital currency is becoming the norm, humans and institutions are removed from the loop along with any former friction that was caused because of them.The webbot, with Clif High interpreting the data over at Half Past Human, has been forecasting for years the fact that Bitcoin was going to get very popular and that it would be a good option for people to invest in.This sixteen minute talk is useful for understanding why this is the case and why it has already become as popular as it has.Cryptocurrneices are based on an area of mathematics called cryptography.Cryptography is about secure information.Masking information so that it can be hidden in plain sight is why this is so successful.Because of how this works, the U.S.Government has actually classified cryptography as a weapon.During WWII, breaking systems like Enigma, an encryption based machine, was critical to learn about enemy communications.

Today internet browsers are secured in a similar way and this helps protect our financial transactions.What this translates to is that we can actually do our own transactions ourselves, because of the secure technology that protects us, to a degree of course.Back in the early 1900’s, a culture called The Yap existed in Micronesia.These people used limestone discs for currency — they were very big.The largest is known to be four tonnes and about four feet across.So as a community The Yap just kept a note of who owned what stones, as they couldn’t be moved around very often.Narula talks about a story, to prove a point she is making, where some sailors were transporting one of these stones across the ocean and some trouble came up causing the limestone disk to fall into the ocean.The sailors returned home and told everyone there what occurred, but after a discussion it was decided that the sailors still owned that stone, even though it was at the bottom of the ocean, it was still part of their finances.

This is still happening right now in our day and age.Back in 1932 the bank of France asked the United States to convert their holdings from dollars into gold.It was too inconvenient to actually ship all that gold over to Europe, so instead someone went to the location the gold was stored and labelled it as belonging to France.bitcoin blockchain too bigEveryone agreed that France owned the gold.bitcoin litecoin ethereum walletIt’s just like the Rai stones that are made out of limestone which The Yap used.btc-e bitcoin trade botNarula says in this video, “there’s nothing inherently valuable about the dollar, or a stone, or a coin; the only reason that these things have any value is because we have all decided that they should, and because we have decided that they do.bitcoin block calculator

Money is about the exchanges and transactions that we have with each other.Money isn’t anything objective, it’s about a collective story that we tell each other about value — a collective fiction — and that’s a real powerful concept.” Bitcoin is based on the same concept that The Yap’s currency system used.litecoin pool setupThrough thousands of networked computers around the world, all the transactions occurring over Bitcoin is recorded.bitcoin mining with nvidiaCollectively they confirm who owns what.kraken account bitcoinYou can learn more about how bitcoin works and hear the full sixteen minute talk below.ethereum koreaRai stone on display at the Bank of Canada Currency Museum in Ottawa, Canada.wicked bitcoin

A large rai stone in the village of Gachpar (2002) Historical photo from Caroline Furness Jayne's String Figures and How to Make Them.[1]Yap stone, British Museum, London Rai, or stone money (Yapese: raay[2]), are large, circular stone disks carved out of limestone formed from aragonite and calcite crystals.[3]Rai stones were quarried on several of the Micronesian islands, mainly Palau,[4] but briefly on Guam as well, and transported for use as money to the island of Yap.They have been used in trade by the Yapese as a form of currency.The monetary system of Yap relies on an oral history of ownership.Because these stones are too large to move, buying an item with one simply involves agreeing that the ownership has changed.As long as the transaction is recorded in the oral history, it will now be owned by the person it is passed on to and no physical movement of the stone is required.Contents 1 2 3 4 5 Rai stones are circular disks with a hole in the middle.

The stones vary widely in size: the largest are 3.6 meters (12 ft) in diameter, 0.5 meters (1.5 ft) thick and weigh 4 metric tons (8,800 lb).The largest rai stone is located on Rumung island, near Riy village.[5]Smaller rai stones might have a diameter of 7–8 centimetres.The extrinsic (perceived) value of a specific stone is based not only on its size and craftsmanship, but also on its history.If many people—or no one at all—died when the specific stone was transported, or a famous sailor brought it in, the value of the rai stone increases by reason of its anecdotal heft.Rai stones were, and still are, used in rare important social transactions, such as marriage, inheritance, political deals, sign of an alliance, ransom of the battle dead or, rarely, in exchange for food.Many of them are placed in front of meetinghouses or along pathways.The physical location of the stone may not matter—though the ownership of a particular stone changes, the stone itself is rarely moved due to its weight and risk of damage.

The names of previous owners are passed down to the new one.In one instance, a large rai being transported by canoe and outrigger was accidentally dropped and sank to the sea floor.Although it was never seen again, everyone agreed that the rai must still be there, so it continued to be transacted as genuine currency.[6]What is important is that ownership of the rai is clear to everyone, not that the rai is physically transferred or even physically accessible to either party in the transfer.Presentation of Yapese stone money for FSM (Federated States of Micronesia) inauguration.Yapese quarried the limestone rocks from the islands of Palau and took them to Yap with canoes and rafts.There is evidence that some limestone has been mined in Palau by Yapese as early as 500 AD, but more widespread mining started in the time period of 1000–1400 AD.[5]Local legend holds that the Yapese discovered the rock of Palau about 500–600 years ago when an expedition led by a man called Anagumang landed on Palau.[7]

Limestone was nonexistent in Yap and therefore very valuable to the Yapese.First Anagumang ordered his men to cut stone into the shape of fish but eventually a circular shape was chosen, probably because it was easier to transport.A pole was put through the hole in the center of the stone so that laborers could carry the stone.The largest of the disks probably needed hundreds of men to transport.Residents of Palau in turn required Yapese to pay in beads, coconut meat and copra or in the form of services for the privilege of quarrying.It is unknown how long money stones have been used in Yap.Flat rocks have been found there that are up to 2000 years old, but the oldest do not resemble today's rai stones, and it is not known if they were used as money.It is nevertheless clear that the size of the stones grew sharply after European techniques and traders came to Yap.The stones may have evolved from smaller carved beads.[8]In 1871, the Irish-American David Dean O'Keefe was shipwrecked near Yap and was helped by the natives.

Later, he assisted the Yapese in acquiring rai and in return received copra and trepang, which were valuable exports in the Far East.[9]O'Keefe provided the Yapese with iron tools.As a result, a form of inflation set in and rai stones acquired with his help were less valuable than more ancient ones.The film His Majesty O'Keefe is the story of his life on Yap.The trade for rai stones eventually stopped at the beginning of the 20th century due to trade disputes between Spanish and German interests in the area.When Imperial Japanese forces took over Yap during World War II, they used some of the stones for construction or as anchors.Economist Milton Friedman has compared the monetary role of the stone money to the reserves of gold held in Fort Knox for foreign governments.[10]Although modern currency has replaced the stones as everyday currency, the rai stones are still exchanged in traditional ways between the Yapese.They are a national symbol and are depicted on local license plates.The stone money is so fascinating that even Walt Disney Productions published "The Stone Money Mystery" in a Donald Duck comic book:[11] ^ Jayne, C.F.