Social Impact of Cryptocurrency

Social Impact of Cryptocurrency 

It’s not that we couldn’t send and receive money all over the world before. We’ve all heard of Western Union and PayPal. It’s just that between their fees (transfer fees, conversion fees, other hidden fees) you are looking at generally over 10% of your entire transferred amount.

Enter Bitcoin. Exit the 10%. The receiver receives the full amount you send or transfer. No part gets deducted. And let’s not just consider business transactions, the same applies to charitable transactions! Trading platform FTX has received over $7 million from user donations. Cryptocurrency has given society ownership of their money. This control is liberating. Gone are the days of being bound by the permission of banks and authorities just to exercise control over your own money.

Let’s also talk about artists. Legendary artist Van Gogh lived most his life in poverty; with his work neglected and disregarded, he even succumbed to cutting off his own ear (which he went on to deliver to a lady named Rachel at a nearby brothel)! Artists fare a bit better these days but for their contribution to society, it does not seem they are compensated enough or fairly (compare their livelihoods to that of bankers). Developments in the NFT space have changed this. Digital tokens tied to assets can be bought, sold and traded, enabling artists to profit from their work more easily than ever. Nongunfible.com estimates over $300 million spent on CryptoPunks alone.

Political Impact of Cryptocurrency 

Ever wondered why national governments are sceptical of Bitcoin? Well, it undermines their authority. In the past, national governments almost operated a monopoly to control finances, monetary policies, central banks and other pieces of financial legislation.

The decentralised nature of cryptocurrency threatens this sovereign authority of governments. Of course, it also makes it more difficult for the government to track transactions: as the sender and receiver are anonymous. As we explained in a recent article, funds can be tracked to an address, not a person. Governments are then left in a difficult position.

What are their options? To criminalise bitcoin will likely lead to increasing its popularity! The political impacts of cryptocurrency are profound. It is no wonder governments are adopting a regulation and moderation approach.

Economic Impact of Cryptocurrency 

Meet inflation’s enemy. Unlike traditional currencies and investment opportunities, Bitcoin is not subject to the laws of inflation. In fact, China’s government banning Bitcoin a couple years ago was because of this reason. Chinese investors were creating asset reserves in Bitcoin (as they were inflation resistant) and this was not contributing to the growth of the economy. 

Beyond inflation, Bitcoin and the crypto ecosystem has led to a massive surge in employment opportunities. The beauty of cryptocurrency is that it is not bound by CVs or extraordinarily expensive qualifications and degrees. Rather, anyone with motivation and a half-decent internet connection is able to make money or a career out of it. We share more details in our How To Land A Crypto Job guide.

We’ll end by paying tribute to blockchain technology. Several of the biggest private corporations have taken up Blockchain technology as a model of study. Blockchain technology is fast, safe and an efficient way of transacting. Watch this space, new use cases of blockchain are being identified each and every day.