“Stable cryptocurrency is a legal UFO”

Tribune. Bitcoin wanted, from 2009, to be the first digital private currency. But its insignificant use as a means of payment has, for now, disqualified it as currency. The real shock came from Facebook’s Libra project. Advertised in 2019 as an international cryptocurrency, it immediately sparked an outcry from governments. Vigorously called to order by Washington, Libra has renamed himself Diem, has promised to wait for federal clearance and is limited to being just one “Stablecoin” (a stable cryptocurrency) of the dollar. Like a casino chip, it is a practical representation of a dollar, guaranteed by an equal amount of banknotes in a safe, redeemable directly and free of charge between smartphones.

This private currency would allow international transfers, taken at 6.5% today, to become almost free. It promises free bank accounts – 1.7 billion people are de-banked – instant loans and improved banking services thanks to big data. Several stablecoins are already operational, but are only used for the crypto-asset market. These are the thousands of virtual goods derived from the blockchain and whose value results from supply and demand.

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Bitcoin is a crypto-asset and not a private currency. It is certainly used as a means of payment by Paypal or Mastercard, and inducted as “legal tender” by El Salvador. But it is tested there as a priority for cross-border transfers, which weigh 20% of the country’s GDP, to provide access to 70% of the population and loosen the dollar’s grip. Its volatility will prevent its adoption as a real currency. In fact, it looks more like modern gold, hence an asset, than money.

Time between innovation and regulation

The more lasting interest of bitcoin and other cryptoassets is to provide an infrastructure for thousands of applications to secure identity, money, tangible and intangible goods, to lend, borrow, insure, invest, predict, bet, exchange, share or co-construct without intermediary. The multitude of current projects draws a powerful innovation scenario for the coming years: community currencies, inspired by local currencies such as the wir in Switzerland or the eusko in the Basque Country, are multiplying to favor territories or social networks.

Fnac or Auchan type loyalty cards become purchasing assistants, depending on preferences for fair trade or food intolerance. Micropayments allow you to buy music or an item in one click. Micro-remunerations allow everyone to monetize their data or provide small services online. Authors’ micro-contracts allow each contributor to a collective project to receive their share if this project bears commercial fruit, for example an equivalent of Wikipedia or an innovative project. Thanks to their immersive social interfaces, Big Techs organize massive collaborations with new tools derived from social networks, wikis, digital twins, shared documents and videoconferences. Based on Uber’s business model, these platforms attract a generation of professionals accustomed to video games, short assignments, multiple objectives, collective teleworking, creativity and automatically calculated remuneration.

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