Tales from the Cybersalon #4 Future of Money – key takeaways from Episode 4
By Wael Elazab, Dec 1st 2021
Five hundred years ago, code digits “1” and “0” for on and off, set the course and trajectory of life as we know it. Disruptively speaking, I don’t imagine anybody felt a change was underway; anthropologically though, digital went from zero to superhero in 0.5-millenia.
Buying, borrowing, commerce and so on, goes back much further. And if it wasn’t written on papyrus, then it was painted on the walls – a record was kept even if only on Abacus.
Introducing the fourth Tales from the Cybersalon, the panellist, Jana Hlistova (author of The Purse financial futures podcast) began, saying the financial system as we know it, is broken, “Central banks continue to print money, to protect the economy.” This devalues global currency, Jana notes, in 2008, the outcome being, “an electronic cash system, Bitcoin, which is decentralised, permissionless and cannot be controlled by [central banks, or] any one-party.”
There is a finite count, which is the gold standard, as Jana says, “It’s impossible to make more bitcoin, so it is deflationary.” This fixed supply, explains Jana, is its value, “As demand goes up, so does the price. The only asset that is off-setting money printing, is bitcoin.”
Tales
4 writers explored what is next in Future of Money – response to the 4th call for short scifi stories by Cybersalon.org under the lead of Stephen Oram.
Hosting Tales, where four final stories are being read, The Retail Practice Ecommerce Director Eva Pascoe, presents dev-democratisation, in The Summoned. Against all odds, SmoothCat coding software competes with the ruling classes’ metaverse monopoly on money, “Any wins in any universe were accumulated in CatCoin, and transferable. Players could leverage assets in one game to borrow for another.” Gamers wanted it, loving the currency’s convenience, money breaking away from ruling elite’s control and eventually CatCoin becoming society’s most prevalent currency. Are games to lead the revolution on new democratisation of access to capital ?
Currencies come with personality, in The Money Talk by Paul Currion. With a Post-Money Manifesto and PolitiCoin corruption, it’s a place where your “AI Money Agent “haggles with the mini-mart, “I tell Money, A full day is too much.” The price of a snack is not cash but sporting advertising of the product, emblazoning your forehead with the brand, “The Grubstore logo is horrible, but I smile at the store clerk. He smiles back as I break a tooth.”
Your money is your life, attaching your purpose to your purse, The Accountant bills the ethics of your actions. Sophie Sparham’s characters reminisce going for a drink, “Without having to turn your balance into alcohol credits, where your gym membership didn’t count towards your health score, when bank statements weren’t checked like passports.” The good ol’ days of coins, not credits. Financial surveillance is even more invasive than geo-location spying, who knew?
Our species needs an enema
The stories bring up issues that are on our horizon, as panelist, “PCM Creative” producer Caron Lyon, says, “Transferable asset-content resonates with what’s going on around us, today; what’s twisted, and how things are spun.” Money in The Summoned, says Caron, is what’s happening in the background today, “The driving of society to reinforce power.”
Similarly, of Sophie’s, Caron says, “The manipulation of means and credit, and the journey of someone’s morality linked to money.” Also on the panel, David Birch, author of Beyond Babylon, beyond Bitcoin” says: “Paul brought emotional values to his currencies,” in The Money Talk. “The myriad of currencies coming in the future will be connected to the communities they serve, and reflect their collective values. Some ‘money’ will be to paid for your adult content, other currencies will be for kids-friendly activities. The future will be financially diverse with conversions from currency to currency being made on the fly by your AI financial agent, not by you, the hapless human.
*Screenshot with David Birch
Fires rage these stories, sparked moons ago – by us, the people – which we fan and fuel. In addition to healthcare, education, justice, we must now add the economy, to the floppy disk labelled: “broken”. Stephen Oram explored the impact on legacy of money, reperations for past sins that soon may need to be paid by people whose ancestors were often as oppressed as the ancestors of minorities. Are reperations a class issue?
However, there is De-Fi, “We’re building a new financial system,” says Jana, “A lending and borrowing system distributed on the blockchain.” Decentralised finance, we’re saved, no longer do we need banks.
Well … in response (retaliation?), they have invented Central Bank Digital Currencies.
Of-Coin anyone?
The poll run during the event has revealed that the audience would feel more comfortable with crypto if there was a regulatory body, for example Of-Coin modelled on Ofcom. But with global reach, our nation-based financial regulators are not a match for global crypto technology. Are nation-states a legacy, about to fade away into the mist of legacy of old, broken money? Are nation states a problem rather than a solution in the new, globalised world? These and more questions will be discussed at the next episode of Tales.
References
Links to video from the reading /panel event here – Stories start at 14.30 min
Stories here:
