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A Revolution in Money
The New York Times ^ | Tuesday, April 1, 2014 | Andrew Ross Sorkin

Posted on 04/02/2014 9:14:27 AM PDT by Star Traveler

Imagine it’s 2040.

You go to the grocery store, and when you look for the checkout counter there is none. There’s no place to pay for your groceries because you already did.

When you walked into the store, a sensor identified you, perhaps from a ring or watch you were wearing that transmitted the information. Or perhaps you didn’t need to wear anything special. Maybe a device in the store figured out who you were using a combination of facial recognition, 3-D body shape identification and your gait.

Your unique identifier is attached to your digital wallet, which transmits payment for the groceries directly to the store. But you don’t pay in dollars. Your wallet has a dozen digital currencies in it, all with different values based on a variety of factors, including loyalty programs. At certain stores, you might pay with their version of frequent-flier miles. At others, you might pay with the equivalent of a virtual credit card — except the credit card isn’t issued by a traditional bank.

You might also pay with credit that you received through a peer-to-peer online exchange that connects investors with people seeking short- and long-term loans. That’s how you got your mortgage and financed your self-driving car, too.

(Excerpt) Read more at dealbook.nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bitcoin
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With everything going "electronic" it seems easy for someone to be able to "turn you off" electronically speaking. WELL ... if you had Bitcoin when you got "turned off" at least you would still be able to spend that money. Otherwise, if you didn't -- even though you might have thought you had "real money" in the bank - you CANNOT ACCESS IT.
1 posted on 04/02/2014 9:14:27 AM PDT by Star Traveler
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To: Errant

Bitcoin related news ...


2 posted on 04/02/2014 9:15:18 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin; nascarnation; TsonicTsunami08; SgtHooper; Ghost of SVR4; Lee N. Field; DTA; ...
Thanks Star Traveler!

I just made another purchase at Overstock - a new Bible. Using BTC as a medium of exchange sure works great! :-)


Click to be Added / Removed.

3 posted on 04/02/2014 9:20:48 AM PDT by Errant (Surround yourself with intelligent and industrious people who help and support each other.)
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To: Star Traveler
What? And miss out on seeing the customer ahead of me wait for the bill to be totalled, then begin to retrieve her wallet from her purse, sift through her coupons, try to pay with coupons from another store, then slowly sift through her money for the exact change, then realize she doesn't have enough cash, and slowly write a check?

Meanwhile, my chocolate ice cream has turned to chocolate milk.

4 posted on 04/02/2014 9:22:07 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obamacare: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)
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To: Star Traveler

Everything is free. The government will provide.

The best things that smartphones and tablets provide is that we will have something to do while we stand in line all day waiting for our ration of Soylent Green.


5 posted on 04/02/2014 9:22:29 AM PDT by henkster (I don't like bossy women telling me what words I can't use.)
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To: Errant
Bitcoin Bible, King Midas Version
6 posted on 04/02/2014 9:23:02 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obamacare: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)
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To: Errant

That’s great! ... :-) ...


7 posted on 04/02/2014 9:23:10 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Jeff Chandler

Hey! I ran into that same customer ... :-) ...


8 posted on 04/02/2014 9:25:48 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Jeff Chandler

After she writes the check, she diligently logs the information in her check register, complete with subtraction, while the cashier discusses how much she likes the organic carrots she purchased.


9 posted on 04/02/2014 9:26:11 AM PDT by mmichaels1970
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To: Star Traveler

Visa had this in a commercial years ago. The technological part can be done now, but there’s a lot of practical issues. What if you have multiple chipped cards, how do coupons work, how do we detect groups of people all carrying stuff but only one is going to pay, do we really want to RFID every single item in stores, produce.

Bitcoins won’t be any harder to turn you off than anything else. You still need to have some sort of device they can scan, and on some level it will have to be associated with you, so if they decide you’re no good off you go.


10 posted on 04/02/2014 9:28:07 AM PDT by discostu (Call it collect, call it direct, call it TODAY!)
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To: Star Traveler

Once the federal government reaches its final configuration the only weak links left in the system will be the carbon based life forms.


11 posted on 04/02/2014 9:29:18 AM PDT by Iron Munro (The future ain't what it use to be -- Yogi Berra)
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To: Jeff Chandler
LOL!

Actually: The Holy Bible: New King James Version, The Scofield Study Bible III, Zipper Duradera Black (Hardcover)

Free shipping too, after adding a hunting knife I've had my eye on for a few days. ;)

12 posted on 04/02/2014 9:31:35 AM PDT by Errant (Surround yourself with intelligent and industrious people who help and support each other.)
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To: Errant

Nice.


13 posted on 04/02/2014 9:36:20 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obamacare: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)
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To: discostu; Star Traveler
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Physical_bitcoin
14 posted on 04/02/2014 9:36:38 AM PDT by Errant (Surround yourself with intelligent and industrious people who help and support each other.)
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To: Star Traveler

Yeah - it’s 2040.

You walk into a store in search of a replacement for your cardboard belt- the one that fell apart after only two months, so that you’re holding up your pants with an old shoelace.

You’d like replacements for your cardboard shoes, but there are none available.

You don’t bother going to the grocery store, since there aren’t any - like everyone else, twice each month you just wait in line for your ration of moldy bread at the Government Allotment Center.

Welcome citizen: This is the future of Obama’s socialism in America.


15 posted on 04/02/2014 9:39:15 AM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: Jack Hammer

Well ... I’m waiting for “3D Manufacturing” in the home so that all that “made in China” stuff will then be “made in America” ... :-) ...


16 posted on 04/02/2014 9:42:30 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Star Traveler

Not to rain on your parade, but the once-monthly ration line will stretch around the block several times for the plastic, metal, wood, and any other materials with which to feed your 3D manufacturing machine - assuming you’re able to get one.

One suspects the government will have collected them all and found a way to tax any ownership and/or use.


17 posted on 04/02/2014 9:48:11 AM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: Star Traveler

That is starting to happen now. What a great time to be alive!


18 posted on 04/02/2014 9:52:01 AM PDT by TsonicTsunami08 (SEND BITCOIN 1CYfujvffxKKPHKvrQvLP3CDb3Z5Lu7LwM Funny Money)
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To: Jack Hammer

Well ... what do I know ... just that Motley Fool is raving over it ... :-) ...

And it’s not just them ... the technology is already being used now. With it coming down in price, it will end up being the equivalent of the Industrial Revolution.


19 posted on 04/02/2014 10:06:11 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: discostu

In “official locations” that check into an official database, that could possibly be true, but it won’t stop people themselves from buying stuff, which would then be completely “off the books”. If necessary a “black market” will grow up around it. And no government has EVER been able to stop black markets. They try, but they never succeed.

Once “cash” is taken off the market ... this will take its place! It will be your safety valve.


20 posted on 04/02/2014 10:10:18 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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