Bitcoin Forum

Traditional Money on the Decline Amid Rising Interest in Digital Currencies

Paying with traditional banknotes is on the decline as interest in contactless payments and digital currencies rises.

That’s according to the co-founder of the Sohn Conference Foundation. Speaking with CNBC on the sidelines of the Sohn Conference in London, Evan Sohn said that a world without fiat money is quickly approaching, adding:

    "How far are we from a restaurant that says we only take online payment? If you eat here, you have to download this application and we only take electronic payment, no cash here, no check.

Even though most payments are still conducted with cash, Sohn thinks that we’re not far away from facing a reality that doesn’t include traditional banknotes.

These feelings similarly mimic those of venture capital investor Tim Draper, who believes that digital currencies, such as bitcoin, will replace fiat currency in five years time. At a conference in Portugal, last month, Draper explained:

    "In five years, if you try to use fiat currency they will laugh at you. Bitcoin and other cryptocurriences will be so relevant … there will be no reason to have the fiat currencies.

According to Draper, the fiat system will eventually disappear as more people turn to bitcoin and ethereum. He also believes that at some point all the digital currencies – currently numbering 1,025 – will interrelate making it simple to use them across borders compared to traditional money.

With the digital currency market increasing in value more interest will naturally turn to investing in them. At present, bitcoin’s is trading around $10,700, recovering from an earlier dip in price that saw it drop to $9,200 earlier this week, amid volatile trading. Whereas, ethereum is hovering around $461, according to CoinMarketCap.

Yet, even though bitcoin is rising in value, its acceptance at retail stores or even restaurants remains limited. Not only that, but with bitcoin’s value continuing its upward trajectory people are more than likely going to hold on to their coins rather than spend them.

One country that has embraced bitcoin payments is Japan. In May, it was reported that around 300,000 retailers and companies in the country may accept the digital currency in 2017. Earlier in the year, Japan imposed legislative changes accepting bitcoin as a legal form of payment, further highlighting bitcoin’s growing popularity in the country.

Sohn adds, though, that while he believes fiat currency will be replaced, he’s not sure if that will be by bitcoin, ethereum, Mastercard or something else, adding:

    "[But] the next step is moving away paper-based currencies.

Source: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/traditional-money-on-the-decline-amid-increasing-interest-in-digital-currencies/

Anyway most of our transactions world-wide are in some sort of digital payment, even it is easier to just swipe the card at the supermarket to buy for things...

Bad side is if the countries try to ban bitcoin or to invent their own cryptocurrencies - we heard this been talked in Russia and Japan if I am not mistaken.

Payments are shifting to be digitial thats correct and with cryptocurrency offering power to people without the need for middleman thats the great opportunity for us all - better to trust the software than to trust the authority, since we all know that trusting authority doesn't mean that we will always be equal to each other if something happens. Anyway some sort of value needs to be there we chose it to be money now we as a sociaty are shifting towards digital - where we spend our lives on the internet.

This is already a digital age, and we are still using paper for exchange for goods and services. Too much paper, paint, print money and transport it from the bank to the bank, the costs of it all go money. for 20 years, people invented technology, much more than for 2000 years. I can not imagine what will happen next

Apple may have ate some of this lunch for crypto with release of Apple pay upgrade...maybe its junk...just saw it hit my
apple O/S update

I think Draper did not say anything new in his context. We already know the power of crypto currency and it is already discussed on the forum about its future. The words said Draper, mainly focus upon the rise of Digital Currency and we already knew the fact that in few years Digital payment is defiantly going to overtake fiat currency in most of the spheres due to its highly beneficial benefits. We just need to wait for that time and it is definitely going to approach soon.

If people still don't notice that we are already patronizing payments through digital even before I or them heard about bitcoin. From loading your mobile phone and buying online so it's really meant for bitcoin to dominate the traditional cash.

Crypto currency really displaces ordinary paper money from circumvention. However, this will happen until a certain point. It can not completely replace conventional paper money. If a person comes to a restaurant and is told that they accept only payments in the crypto currency, this person can sue such a restaurant and will certainly win the dispute. National paper money should be accepted for payment at any outlet and in any institution on the territory of that state, otherwise it would violate the laws of the state and at the same time violate the rights of citizens to choose the form of payment and the right to use national money.

Digital payments are definitely on the rise, but we shouldn't be clubbing cryptocurrencies with that. Paying with your credit card is a lot different from paying with Bitcoin. Use of cryptocurrencies for day to day transactions will definitely take time.
Even in digital payments, the use is significant only in developed and urban areas. If you go to rural areas in developing countries, cash is still king.

We saw this coming, our regulators and central banks need to understand that this is the era of digital currencies and they should not fight it by banning but instead find ways they can legalise and ensure people are using these digital currencies in line with the laid out regulations. And as far as adoption and growing interest in digital currencies, and a business that takes these sort of payments should also have better sales than traditional fiat business as we are entering a cashless era.

This is the next evolution in the history of money and this trend has started not only with the introduction of cryptocurrency but the use of cards (credit and debit) in many transactions. Now, we have cryptocurrency and we are expecting massive adoption for this platform sooner or later. Soon, cryptocurrency can be so popular because there are now apps that can process payments using Bitcoin and other coins and these apps can be improving their services and features as time goes on. When cryptocurrency would be as easy as using our smartphones people can be enticed to use cryptocurrency and spread the good news to their circle of influence. Combining convenience, security and accessibility, we are now heading into uncharted territory in the quest to reach the billions of people who are not yet into the cryptocurrency bandwagon.