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No, the headline above is not a misprint. We really are creating digital currencies with a value of 2 trillion dollars. Read on to find out how, why and what it means for you.
Technology is rapidly changing our world. Combined with a growing human population, technology has given us the means to change our world – but also to destroy it.
With our unsustainable and inefficient conversion of Earth’s resources into the food, energy, housing, transportation and gadgets that humanity needs, we have facilitated the most rapid extinction of life in our planet’s history. More than half of our planet’s wildlife and forests are already gone, and every major ecosystem is in a state of rapid decline. And perhaps worst of all, we have triggered runaway climate change that imperils all life on Earth. This winter the Arctic experienced a catastrophic and unprecedented warming with more than 61 days above freezing so far and temperatures reaching more than 60°F above normal. This could mean an ice free summer for most of the Arctic for the first time in millions of years, and a huge increase in the already massive outpouring of CO2 and methane which will drive global warming and climate change ever more rapidly.
If we continue on the same path, our own mass depopulation is inevitable and our extinction becomes a distinct possibility.
But now there is hope. A new technology has made it possible for us as individuals to work together to transition from a path that leads to a bleak future to one that offers survival and sustainability.
This new technology is called blockchain, and it is leading a revolution in digital record keeping because it provides a mechanism for anyone with an Internet connection to transfer any asset with unmatched security, efficiency and integrity.
One application of blockchain technology is digital currency using cryptography, commonly called cryptocurrency. The first cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, and it has been changing how people think about money and showing us that money doesn’t have to only come from governments and that non-governmental digital currencies can be a valid and widely accepted medium of exchange. While Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies have clearly shown that people can indeed create their own independent digital currency and that that currency can be exchanged for a wide range of goods and services and other currencies, most of them are not suitable for wider use by government agencies and most businesses.
In the coming months, Bid Ocean, North America Procurement Council (NAPC) and other partners will be launching international digital currencies designed to better meet the needs of government agencies and businesses. The currencies will be used as regional currencies, with the regions defined as North America & the Caribbean, South America, Asia & the Pacific, Europe and Africa.
At least ninety percent of the currencies will be given as grants to government agencies, qualified non-profit organizations and technology R&D to help fund specific development projects that support climate-change adaptation and a new climate-proof and sustainable civilization. The rest of the currencies will be made available to early investors and distributed to Bid Ocean/NAPC/Trillions members to seed the business-to-business economic network required to support the development projects.
The currencies are being developed in partnership with the International Digital Monetary Council, a new non-profit think tank that will have a core council of 12 leading thinkers who will craft the policy and regulatory framework and standards essential for the success of regional digital currencies. The council will be supported by another 24 advisers with a wide range of expertise. Once the council has developed the standards, they will be made public and submitted to the United Nations as a model for consideration for other regional digital currencies. The standards will continue to evolve as experience is gained with the regional digital currencies and issues arise and are resolved.
The new digital currencies will be different from existing cryptocurrencies in several important aspects and will be suitable for use by government agencies and businesses. They will be secure, accountable, taxable, stable and sustainable. Instead of it taking hours to complete a transaction, as it does now with Bitcoin, transactions will be easily completed in seconds through secure apps with transaction records exportable to accounting software supporting digital currencies.
The digital coins will also be more secure than credit or debit cards because every user, user device, coin and transaction will be authenticated and secured. Large transactions will have additional security measures. Because transactions will not be anonymous, the currencies will not be useful for money laundering or criminal activity. The currencies are intended to be used as a medium of exchange in centrally managed business networks and are not intended to be used primarily as an investment commodity (as most cryptocurrencies are being used now). Therefore, the value of the regional currencies can be more easily managed.
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