Future Money

Some vague speculation: See the eCash revolution emerging. When moneytransfer via mobile becomes ubiquitous in a not so far future, everyone with fair webprogramming skills could start a bank. Even issuing your own currency seems easy, remember only the linden dollar.

Already several offline experiments with alternative money have been made, one of them is the postwar Freigeld experiment of Wörgl. But this is oviously the monopoly of the state by now. The central banks own the monopoly, and the state gets veeery angry if you don't comply. In Wörgl the government sent the army to force the city council to give up their currency. Will eCash be illegalized by EU or the European countries? Will there be "black money"?

New currencies ultimately lead also to more instability in economics. Stability would be gained through differentiation of the money but expect new currencies to boom to bust and to fail. The internet is fast and spenders could leave a currency within blinks, devaluating the e-currency in a relentless fraction of time.