This is what cryptocurrencies could look like in 50 years
3 min readCompared to traditional fiat currencies, cyber currencies are still in their infancy. Nevertheless, a lot has happened since the original digital currency Bitcoin gave the starting signal for the development of the cryptoverse in 2009. But what does the long-term trend around crypto currencies look like? This is what various experts think.
• Cryptocurrencies are still uncharted territory
• Thousands of altcoins have been developed since Bitcoin was invented
• Experts agree that digital currencies have a future
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin & Co.: The list of existing cryptocurrencies has become quite long. And that’s despite the fact that cyber currencies have not actually been around for very long. 2009 turned out to be the fateful year for the still young digital currencies, when inventor Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.
Thousands of cryptocurrencies created so far
There are now several thousand different cryptocurrencies, which are also called altcoins, or alternative coins, to distinguish them from their crypto forefather Bitcoin. Much has already been written about digital currencies, and the massive price fluctuations to which digital currencies are exposed are also legendary.
But even though central banks, governments and various institutions are still skeptical about the new type of internet money, the blockchain technology underlying it has now found its way into the everyday lives of many companies.
But what is the future of cryptocurrencies? To investigate this question, the US news portal CNBC asked various experts from a wide range of fields for their opinion on where they see digital currencies in 50 years.
The future of cryptocurrencies
Dragan Boscovic, founder of the Blockchain Research Lab, believes that cryptocurrencies will become more and more commonplace in the next ten years: “Central banks are in the process of developing regulations for cryptocurrencies. They recognize that digital currencies are part of the digital economy and that they are therefore likely to become mainstream in the next ten years.”
In fact, the ECB recently announced that it wants to start an investigation into the creation of a digital euro. It seems that the monetary authorities could soon become creators of cryptocurrencies themselves.
When asked by CNBC, journalism professor and author Frederick Kaufman stressed that cyber currencies are increasingly likely to be used as a store of value: “Long before 2071, the dollar will have more in common with cryptocurrencies than with silver or gold. There is no reason to doubt the longevity of encrypted algorithms for storing value and exchanging media.” In his opinion, every form of money is ultimately a form of encryption. For Kaufman, it is therefore a logical conclusion that with technological progress, “the urge to invest in tokens will accelerate.”
Ivory Johnson of Delancey Wealth Management, on the other hand, highlights the ability of cryptocurrencies to complete transactions across borders quickly and, above all, cost-effectively as a forward-looking feature: “Cryptocurrencies will revolutionize traditional finance because their most attractive feature is that they can enable payments efficiently across borders with little to no cost, without delays and exchange rate fluctuations.”
When it comes to the future of Bitcoin, however, Johnson is not so sure: “50 years is a long time and Bitcoin could either become the world’s reserve currency or the next AOL, which made a lot of people rich until it was dethroned by better technology.”
Only Dan Egan, Vice President of Behavioral Finance and Investing at Betterment, is not quite so sure about the future of cryptocurrencies. Although he also believes that it is unlikely that cyber currencies will disappear again, he asks himself “whether we will generate the necessary energy to be able to meet the demand of the growing crypto market”. The question remains equally uncertain whether “government authorities that see [crypto currencies] as competition to fiat power will not lead to them flourishing even more on the black market”.
What the future of cryptocurrencies will actually look like is ultimately anyone’s guess. All respondents agree on one thing: cyber currencies are here to stay.
