The Pros and Cons of Digital Currency In Today’s Integrated World
If you have any interest in financial matters whatsoever, chances are that you have heard of Bitcoin. Starting with its development in 2009, Bitcoin is considered to be the first true “cryptocurrency,’ in that it has no real-world counterpart and is not regulated by any government.
While online purchases made in the same country are relatively easy, in terms of payment collection and currency type, those made in another country can be a little more difficult. This makes the prospect of a widely-accepted, fully digital currency a very attractive possibility for many people.
So what exactly are the pros and cons of a world centered around digital currency? Let’s take a look!
Pros
Ease of Use: It would be difficult to argue against how easy using digital currency would be. This is true even beyond the aforementioned scenario of ordering from different countries. Having a digital currency that you could use even in real-world locations would allow for a complete centralization of all of your money, making things much easier to track.
Anonymity: We as a people are big on privacy. Having a completely anonymous payment option, such as what is available with Bitcoin, would truly put to bed the fears that purchases and activities are being tracked by an outside entity.
Fees: Our current financial structure is chock full of different fees. Bank fees, credit card fees, late fees…all of these factors swoop in to take their bite of the pie. With digital currency, all funds circulate withing the same system, which undercuts the need for a large portion of currently-charged fees.
Cons
Illegal Purchases: Last year, we were shocked by the headlines of an underground, illicit-drug market, Silk Road, which made billions of dollars in profit in just two years. This type of business would have been impossible without a way to pay that was completely untraceable.
Volatility: Given that all current digital currencies are unregulated by any outside body, their value can increase and decrease in a short period of time by quite a bit. Bitcoin, again, is a prime example of this happening. When Silk Road was shuttered, the value of Bitcoin was more than halved in less than a month’s time.
What do you think of a world ruled by digital currency? Let us know in the Comments section below!