The Internet of Money - Volume 1

Highlights

• All of the ancient writing we find, the first forms of writing, are ledgers. They are writing about money. Because money is older than writing.
• There have been several studies where chimpanzees are taught how to use money. They are taught that a specific type of stone can be exchanged for bananas. Researchers then watch the monkeys to see what they will do with this new information. They very quickly invent armed robbery. They figure out that if you beat up the other monkey and take its stones, you can exchange them for bananas. Surprisingly, the second thing they invent is prostitution. They figure out that sexual favors can be exchanged for stones, which can be used for bananas. What does that tell you about the nature of money?
• You think people are freaking out about bitcoin? Imagine how much they freaked out when you told them that now, instead of trading in gold, they would trade in pieces of paper.
• It took about 400 years for paper, as money, to become accepted broadly.
• In 2014, bitcoin startups will receive more than $250 million of investment. What’s remarkable about that is that it’s faster than the rate of investment in the internet in 1995.