INFO VINE * The History of Money *

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Money is whatever one desires really, it can be an object, coin, or paper that people place importance on, thus giving it value. While many may think of this as bizarre, money is really nothing more than a symbol/emblem of exchange. Over the centuries, money has transformed from being a medium of exchange to a method of measurement, and a definition of wealth. In other words, we the people conceived this intangible concept called “money,” but it is no more than just an idea deeply embedded in the human psyche. Scroll through this gallery to find out about the history of money. 

Currency

While money is just an idea of wealth, currency is actually the tangible form of “money.” Think of gold, silver, objects, shells, pebbles, etc.; these are actual physical forms of money. Money is identified in terms of numbers (a concept as mentioned earlier), and currency is identified in terms of coins, notes, cards (debit and credit), and any other objects you can think of. 



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Currency began to shape as a means of acquiring goods and trade; think back to weapons, salt, and animal skin. Currency has evolved throughout time and one can still see this type of trade system in some countries around the globe, even in the modern era with trading used goods for other necessities (aka secondhand and upcycling). 

Means of Exchange

The tricky thing about money is that some people appear to “possess” more currency than others, thus, enabling some to participate in this market of exchange while others receive via means of charity/donations or basically what is no longer of “high value.” Money enables one to obtain an item or service in exchange for giving a valuable token (aka currency). 



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This system allowed producers to begin adjusting prices/value on each of their items so that consumers can plan their budgets/money accordingly. In other words, this market system was created as a means to rely and depend on a predictable means of exchange, but contrary to popular belief, the system also sought to make humanity inferior, generating scarcity and worry about not being able to afford goods. 

Alternative means of Exchange

This is when debt and credit began to take place. At the beginning of the 20th century, businesses and companies were required to ensure that in case of an emergency, their workers were backed up by alternative forms of emergency currency like scrips. When banks would suffer from cash shortages and failures, workers were able to redeem the scrip to receive food, commodities, or services instead of the “money,” or wait until U.S. dollars were issued in the future to redeem cash instead. 



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Scrips served to compensate employees or community members when in short supply. Although these seemed convenient and an honorable form of compensation, it mostly benefited the employer, not the employee. Other forms of scrips that we see in the modern world now are gift cards, coupons, and rewards points. 

Negotiables

Trading and means of exchange were more negotiable at the beginning of money/currency conception. This means that despite there being a tagged price on goods and products, the supply market was flexible to adjust according to consumers’ circumstances. In the world of economics, negotiable means a document that promises payment in cash flows, sometime in the future. 



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This instrument was formally established in the 1800s. For a negotiable to be considered liable, there must be a date that states the starting and end date of cash flows of that which was “purchased.” In other words, money is yet to be paid, so negotiables serve as a lawful document that ensures payment of products/services purchased in multiple payments. 

Bartering

Before the concept of money was conceived, historians have claimed that bartering was one of the very first mediums of exchange. Bartering is a trading system where one party gives one of their goods such as corn in exchange for another party’s goods such as animal skins. 



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Bartering usually took more time as there needed to be an agreement and certainty that the exchange was benefiting both parties, not just one. So, for instance, if one man was trading an ax for the other party to kill a mammoth with, there needed to be some sort of inspection to test whether it was a fair trade. If one party didn’t agree, then the barter would be adjusted until someone agreed to the deal. 

Commodities as Money

Since everyone in society used commodities/natural resources like tobacco, salt, oil, corn, tea, seeds, and cattle, they were considered the first form of money. However, it wasn’t easy carrying or transporting these commodities everywhere, so they soon appeared impractical and illogical to serve as a means of money. 



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Conflict also arose between those who exchanged a service for these commodities because some services weren’t equivalent to the value of these resources, or they simply didn’t meet the expectations. The value would also vary according to supply and demand. 

Cattle as Currency

Cattle was one of the very first forms of currency sometime in 9000 BC. Even the word “money” derives from the word “cattle,” in Latin, “money” translates to “pecunia” (from “pecuniary”) which derives from “pecus” which means “cattle.” Cows, sheep, camels, and many other livestock were used as a means of money as well. 



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Apart from animals, there were grains being cultivated which also became a form of money throughout this period. They seemed to be a fair means of exchange since cattle provided food, milk, clothing, and sometimes used for religious sacrifices. Africa is one of the countries that continued to use cattle as currency all the way through the 20th century. 

Cowrie Shell as Money

In 1300 BC, cowrie shells were collected, processed, and used as money in South Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Australia. When cowrie shells were implemented as money, Africa’s gold dust, silver coins, and salt bars lost their value, and many suffered greatly from it. It became the chosen currency and became a definition of status and power. 



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In Oceania, the shells had a longer process to make them shinier; they would gather the shells, dry them up, break them into smaller pieces, drill a hole into each piece, heat them, cool them in water, and then put them on a string together. Cowrie shells later began to be used for decoration in headdresses and costumes. 

Standardized Currency in China

The standardized currency was first incorporated by the early Chinese civilizations in 1100 BC. Gold was already part of China’s currency, and first, they used small bronze casts mirroring knives and spades for their money, but imagine reaching into your pocket and poking your hand with a tiny spade or arrow. They later implemented gold, silver, and copper to create round-shaped casts that we now know as coins, with holes in the middle to string them together. 



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The “superior” coins were identified because they were made out of gold, the “medial” were made out of silver, and the “inferior” were made out of copper. Gold was used by the top ranks for awards and gifts and silver coins were used for bribery. 

The First Minted Coins

China was recognized for the first casted objects of money, but it was Lydia that was the first country to establish the official minted coins. Their first Lydian stater (coin) was the first that officially stated a formal exchange value and was introduced as a form of money by the government authority. 



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This was what truly distinguished a monetary form from barter items, tokens, and other objects of money. The coin was made out of metal, intended to be imperishable to serve its true function as money and to also be of intrinsic value. They were also stamped by kings, and this technique was then used and adjusted in Greek, Persia, and Macedonia. 

The First Paper Notes

The first paper notes were conceived in the 7th century in China during the Tang Dynasty, but they only appeared somewhere around the 11th century. They were formed as issued bills and were used long before they were introduced in Europe in the 17th century. 



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However, China did suffer inflation due to copper shortages and drawbacks, so paper notes were eliminated in 1455 and brought back hundreds of years later before it became a common currency. They continued to use their bronze coins with square holes called kai-yuans. 

Paper Currency Transition

When the Chinese transitioned from coins to paper money around 700 BC, the Chinese inscription on the bills warned (instead of inspiring) “Those who are counterfeiting will be decapitated.” Some parts of Europe were still using coins throughout the 16th century because they did have an abundance of metals that enabled them to keep minting coins. 



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Contrary to popular belief, paper currency was first adopted and issued by banks and other institutions, not the government. Colonial governments in Europe began to issue IOU (a document of debt owed) when they realized shipments from Europe to North America took so long that colonists would run out of coin money by the time they got to their destination. 

Marco Polo

Marco Polo was an explorer and Venetian merchant who introduced many of China’s finest resources and innovations to the Western world, such as silk, spices, gunpowder, and weapons. But this man is highly credited by many historians with having introduced paper money to Europe via his classic work The Travels of Marco Polo, where he shares his experiences across Asia. 



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In one of his chapters, Polo explains the alchemical process of Great Khan when creating paper out of the bark of trees to then use as a means of money across his country. He explains the entire process from beginning to end in detail: how they take the skin of a mulberry tree, make them into some resemblance of paper, cut them up into pieces, and lastly, sealed by officials. Anyone who attempts to forge the paper or seal would be punished by death. 

Potlatch

In the 1500s, Potlatch was an indigenous custom/feast held by the North American Indian cultures. In these ceremonies, gifts would be exchanged, rituals performed, and there would be dances and feasts. This was a custom that initiated people into secret tribes and societies as well as for births, marriages, and reaffirmations of a leader’s social rank/status. 



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Some potlatches would take an entire year to prepare. These were sacred and highly important customs, but greediness would often override the primal intention; in this scenario, gifts were like money, and the larger and the more lavish the potlatch, the more they’d receive. 

The First Banknotes in Europe

By 1660, the central government was demanding coins to be minted lighter than the previous coins, which meant that they were less valuable for their lack of metal and the people did not approve. In 1661, Sweden’s Stockholms Banco was the first to introduce European banknotes in order to provide the public with the same value as the original heavy copper coins. 



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So, instead of minting and carrying the heavy coins, the bank established banknotes as a more convenient currency, but this only lasted for a few years due to inflation; as the bank printed more and more of the notes, their value decreased. Palmstruch, the founder of the bank, was imprisoned and the bank collapsed by 1668. 

Continentals

In 1775, Continental Congress issued a paper currency specifically to help finance the American Revolutionary War, called continentals. A large amount of these bills were printed and they weren’t backed by any valuable asset such as gold or silver, which led them to become worthless paper within a couple of years. 



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They “lost” (they didn’t really have value in the first place) their value soon enough (by 1779). The revolutionaries were left with massive debt and national leaders were propelled to create institutions that would provide value to the nation’s money, thus conceiving the national bank. 

The National Bank

Alexander Hamilton brought forth the idea of a national bank to take control of the paper money, tax revenues, debts, loans, and other functions. By 1791, the Bank of the United States was established in Philadelphia. The national bank is a commercial bank that carries and tracks deposits, loans, checking, and saving accounts while making money from your transactions and cooperation via imposed fees (overdraft fees, maintenance fees, late fees, non-sufficient fund fees, etc.). 



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This was the conception of a more rigid system that appeared to be well-intentioned with their “financial stability” campaigns, but in truth, it only opened the doors even wider to profit from people’s capital. 

The Coinage Act

The first U.S. dollar was issued within a year of the national bank’s conception. In 1792, the U.S. Coinage Act of 1792 replaced the continentals and prospered by introducing the U.S. monetary system with U.S. dollars, cents, eagles, and sub dominations. The nation’s money initially started with coins until paper currency was reintroduced in 1861. 



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The value of each coin depended on how much and which material/metal was used to create it (copper, silver, or gold). The Coinage Act established the dollar with a decimal system. Made out of gold, there were the eagles worth $10, half eagles worth $5, and quarter eagles worth $2.50. Made out of silver, there were dollars worth $1, half dollars worth $0.50, quarter dollars worth $0.25, disme (dimes) worth $0.10, and half a dime worth $0.05, and lastly cents and half cents made out of copper. 

The Assay Commission

The Coinage Act established a commission that would inspect and analyze the quality of the metals used to mint the U.S. coins. The Assay Commission would assay the substance, the purity, and the composition of the metals to ensure their value. There were three techniques to test the metal: the fire assay, wet chemistry, and instrumental analysis. 



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The fire assay consisted of grinding the samples into a fine powder while heated in a ceramic container. The instrumental analysis consisted of separating the mixture into a shallow cup and inspecting the metals via a specific technique. The wet chemistry technique requires the metal to go through a distillation process, titration to determine the metal’s concentration, and lastly precipitation. However, with the abolishment of gold and silver, the Assay Commission would come to a close by 1980. 

Bullions

The Coinage Act let the nation have one gold or silver bullion without having to pay for it. They could also exchange it for the equivalent amount of the coin. Bullions are bars of precious metals like gold and silver and used to be one of the most conductive and popular materials/forms of exchange long before paper money took place. 



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These defined the rank of the elites and upper class (emperors, kings, queens, noblemen, and priests), and so created division with the rest of the people/society. Gold became a safety net for the wealthy in times of inflation and financial collapse; they would remain financially stable even within the midst of national financial disasters. 

The Power of Gold

The thing with gold is that it is a timeless resource/material/commodity/currency, it cannot be destroyed, become bankrupt or valueless, because it is an inherent part of nature and existence itself, and a tangible asset. You don’t need a third party to have gold bullion, and this is why banks were created in the first place. To keep it simple, national/commercial banks were an easy way to control society, people’s transactions, and the flow of capital while also making a profit from you. 



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If you think about it, the elite of this era does not go through the economic crashes as the rest do, because they themselves have gold at their fingertips, and that is why gold was “abolished”/hidden in the first place. If you hold bullion of gold, you wouldn’t be affected by the financial crashes because it is a reliable asset that does not depend on government, regulations, or any system. 

“Greenbacks”

Just like the constitutionals (currency used in the Revolutionary War), in 1861, Congress decided to introduce yet another form of currency to finance the Civil War. However, they wanted to use a form of money that wasn’t of gold nor silver. 



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Basically, they wanted something with very little value to no value at all, so they introduced the “demand notes” also known as government-regulated paper bills and “greenbacks” as the Civil War soldiers named them. The first bills were the $5, $10, and $20 bills, the $1 bill would be introduced a year later. Congress ensured that these bills could not be forged, and the ink could not be erased with the use of a chemically created ink. 

The $1 Bill

One might assume that the first dollar bills were the $1-dollar ones, but these actually came after the $5, $10, and $20 dollar bills. In 1862, the Treasury Department designed and introduced it to the nation’s currency. Salmon Chase placed his own face on the first dollar, but by 1864, his face was replaced by the face of President George Washington. 



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The public was not receptive to these bills since they were of no intrinsic value, but over time, they would become the norm. This was the plan all along, to make the people believe in the power of paper money so that they would start placing their own value onto it. So, returning to the first statement of this post, money in itself has no value, and even less so does paper money. 

Wampum

Throughout the 17th century when European explorers were traveling and leading exhibitions in the New World, many of them would arrive with very little goods and necessities. Since they’d spend every bit of currency on the trip across the globe, they would often be desperate to find means of barter and trade. 



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The initial inhabitants of the lands had their own method of trading. Wampum, made out of clamshells, in the form of cylinders became the Native Americans’ method of payment when bartering for eggs, clothing or hay was not an option. These clamshells were polished and sewn into strings, forming a band that represented a story of the community. 

From Currency to an Artifact

Just like cowrie shells, wampum was a method of payment that was not accepted everywhere in the U.S. in the 1600s. In the 1700s, wampum had expanded with new tools and beads for its production, but the currency had very little value and soon was forced out of circulation. 



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When coins and paper money were adopted in the 1800s, fur, wampum, tobacco, and other assets were no longer considered forms of money, these assets soon were just commodities to the nation. Wampum transformed from a currency to an artifact with high value that was implemented in museums or even bought by collectors. 

Assets

An asset is a resource that helps to improve economic benefits for an individual, business, corporation, etc., in the future via cash flow, improvement of sales, or reduction of expenses. It can be a resource that you own or that is owed to you. For example, gold was a massive asset in the early days, and now you can think of phones, computers, or chairs as assets. 



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There are few types of assets, current assets are short-term resources that generate benefit within a year; fixed assets are long-term resources like plants, buildings, and equipment that may or may not devalue over time; financial assets are stocks, equity, bonds, and these are valued by the motive behind them. 

Representative Money

Representative money started sometime in the 17th century, it is a token, coin, or paper money that has no true value, used as a payment method to get a commodity of actual value. So, for instance, using paper money in exchange for gold, silver, copper, or tobacco (which are of high value). 



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In other words, money no longer had to hold any value as it was backed up by the valued commodity itself. If this isn’t clear enough, this is a huge scam and government crime that many aren’t aware of. Throughout the 19th century, people were buying gold with so-called paper money that had zero value. Bank drafts, checks, and money orders are other forms of representative money. 

Fiat Money

Fiat money is a form of currency whose value is determined by the government. Fiat money holds no value whatsoever (just as the representative money), and the material from which it is made holds none either. Most paper money and coins are fiat money. 



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It was after President Richard Nixon abandoned the gold standard that the U.S. dollar could no longer convert into gold, and this meant with no gold to back up the dollar, that the value of the currency of the U.S. dollar could decline (aka inflation). This type of money is the modern money we the people are using to this day. 

Central Banks

The Central Bank is an institution that holds control over the distribution, production, credit, debt, and loans of national money. Most central banks are government-free agencies, meaning that they are independent institutions, but they function by their own laws (or pretend to). The first central bank to be recognized was the Swedish Riksbank in 1668 which helped fund the government’s debt. 



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The Bank of England was established in 1694, becoming the most powerful of them all. Central banks serve other banks as a support system, especially as a backup plan when in a financial crisis. They control the supply and interest rates, provide loans to the nation's banks and governments, and raise the nation’s taxes whenever they want to provide the government with more money. 

The Gold Standard

The gold standard was a system created to back up paper money with precious metals. Paper money had value because it was linked and backed by a certain amount of gold. This helped the nation prevent inflation and deflation with a so-called stable monetary system in place, although, this is no longer an implemented system in our economic sphere.



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In the 1800s, hard money enthusiasts demanded the rise of gold circulation to get rid of the paper notes that the Bank of the United States had introduced. By 1821, England was the first to adopt the gold standard, Germany and other nations followed. By the 1900s most nations implemented the gold standard, with the U.S. being the last one to join. 

Bank Charter Act

In 1844, the Bank Charter Act ensured that the banknotes of the Bank of England were backed up by gold. This required the Bank of England to hold one gold bullion for every note, thus issuing over 14 million pounds of gold. This act decreed exclusive powers to the Bank of England and control over the issuing of notes in other British banks. 



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New banks were not permitted to issue banknotes, banks that were issuing banknotes could only continue if they did not exceed their average, and if banks stopped issuing notes for whatever reason, they were not permitted to start their circulation again. In other words, the Bank of England had control of the supply of money for a limited period. 

Early Credit

Before the plastic credit cards that you get to swipe in an instant, there were other forms of credit such as merchants selling seeds to farmers in exchange for payment with the harvest of those crops. One of the earliest set of laws of a credit system was the Code of Hammurabi which stood by “an eye for an eye” phrase that permitted justice based on revenge. 



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Within these laws, there were rules that established a set way of paying back money with interest. Loans were financial agreements between two parties only (no other system involved). In today’s world, a customer can continue to “borrow/owe” from an individual merchant without a fixed payoff deadline. It is the same with some store credit cards nowadays. 

The First Bank Card

In 1946, John Biggins introduced the first bank card called Charg-It where a customer could use it for their purchase. The bill would then be sent to Biggins’ bank and the bank would reimburse the merchant while the bank would later receive full payment (with interest) from the cardholder/customer. In other words, the bank was “lending” money to consumers. 



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This first started in Brooklyn NY, later in New Jersey, and by 1958, the national American Express credit card was introduced. While this appears to be “beneficial” to the public, this is once again a way to make money from consumers, convincing them to buy more “without a worry” until they’re in debt. 

“Buy now, Pay Later” Expands

In the 1950s, soon after Biggins’ merchant Charg-It card, the Diner’s Club card joined the market. When Frank McNamara was having dinner at a restaurant in New York, he realized he’d forgotten his wallet. No one knows exactly what happened then, but it could’ve been a promise to pay the restaurant back or calling his wife to have cash delivered to him. 



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At some point, he got the “brilliant” idea of the Diner’s Club card that enabled consumers to pay the bills without cash in over 20 restaurants across New York. By 1970, the magnetic strip was better established, allowing consumers to pay through a machine that decoded their financial information. This was the breaking point of credit cards we now know today. 

Western Union

Before being the money transfer company we know today, Western Union started out as an industry connecting people across the globe. By 1871, Western Union introduced an electronic service to transfer money reliably within New York, Chicago, and Boston. It then expanded to a national electronic transfer service. 



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Even those that do not have a bank account can receive and send money across the globe. By 1914, they introduced their Metal Money credit card and within a few decades, they created a money transfer app of their own to send money from the U.S. to any other country... with fees of course. 

Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve was the transformation of numerous central banks shaping into the Federal Reserve System. The central banks were already considered the bank’s banks, so their role officially changed when President Wilson passed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. “The Fed” was now responsible for check processing and financial transfer whereas before they were conducted by private clearinghouses. 



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The FRS monitors consumers’ credits, controls the monetary policy of the nation, financially supports the U.S. government, and monitors the stability of the financial system. There are 12 District banks across the U.S. with its main agency in Washington DC. 

Great Depression

The Great Depression’s cause remained a mystery for decades, and people are waking up to the fact that it couldn’t have been anything other than the Federal Reserve System’s doing. The FRS’s duty was to provide the banks with a consistent money supply, but they became greedy over their gold reserves and created a non-existent stock market crash. 



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With the hyperinflation, it didn’t matter how much a worker’s salary rose because the prices of everything were rising too. According to President Hoover, a financial crisis should affect profit, not the lack of employment, because this way, consumers continue to buy, gradually helping the economy back to stability. By 1930, Hoover had requested the FRS to increase credit, sought to support businesses to create new jobs for the people, but every one of Hoover’s projects were criticized for focusing on local relief programs instead of on the whole nation. 

Roosevelt as President

When President Roosevelt was inaugurated (after Hoover), it didn’t take long to demand people to turn in their gold for fiat money. He demanded that any gold coins, bullion, or gold certificates were to be turned in to the FRS by May 1st of 1933; every ounce of gold would be “compensated” with $20.67 in paper money. 



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Let me remind you that this was a mass crime in itself committed right out in the open. This was supposedly a way to “recover” the nation from the inflation that was orchestrated by the FRS itself. 

The End of the Gold Standard

When the Great Depression hit, which was most likely the goal of the FRS, people panicked with the rise of prices and the lack of money. By 1971, President Nixon and the FRS devalued gold and ensured that people adopted fiat money instead, but this brought even more skepticism for the fact that paper money had no value whatsoever (and it still doesn’t), but the nation was forced to live up to this new system. 



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The British also abandoned the gold standard and made the pound sterling their global reserve currency, just as the U.S. with their U.S. dollar, but in 1974, President Gerald Ford allowed Americans to purchase and own gold bullion once again. 

Currency Wars

International trade increased after the currency switched to paper money. It became a lot easier for banks to buy out the currency of other nations, change the value of foreign currency to make them appear more expensive, and drive their rival’s currency down so that they would reduce their buying power and ability to pay as well. 



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While this may be odd, a nation would often seek to devalue their own currency to gain more from exports and propel their people to buy cheap domestic goods/products with expensive imports that they wouldn’t be able to afford, thus, winning both ways. In other words, each nation scams its own people to stimulate their own money, wealth, and status. 

Chip Technology

The biggest addition to debit cards was the EMV (Europay Mastercard & Visa) chip technology that was introduced in the 1970s and adopted a bit later. Up until the mid-1990s, debit and credit cards worked with the magnetic stripe on the back of the card and the imprinted numbers on the front. 



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In 1996, the EMV chip could store confidential information which served for more secure transactions. Prior to the chip technology, it was easier for cards to be stolen and accounts to be hacked by simply copying the holder’s signature. The EMV chip Specification offered stronger verification methods for the cardholders. 

The World Wide Web

In the early 1990s, Tim Berners Lee created the first web server and browser and shortly after joint hypertext with the internet, creating HTML, URL, and HTTP. By 1994, Secure Socket Layers (SSL) was developed to allow people to safely transmit data across the web. If sites didn’t have an authentic SSL, then that meant the site couldn’t be trusted. 



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This opened the doors for e-commerce with Amazon being one of the top sites to succeed as an online store; first launching in 1995 as a bookstore and then transforming into the largest online store in the world. It’s said that one of the first online purchases was a pizza from Pizza Hut. 

Gold Reserves Today

You may rarely see gold today, but the U.S. actually holds the largest gold reserve in the world with 8,133.5 tons according to 2018 statistics, followed by Germany with a bit over 3,371 tons, Italy with 2,451 tons, France with 2,436 tons, and Russia with 1909.8. Gold is an asset and a commodity, often now seen in jewelry, electronics, and even medicine. 



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Keep in mind that every year, the governments increase their gold reserves by the hundreds. Think about it; society was robbed of their own gold and now the government/elite hold a massive reserve for their own benefit when in the midst of any economic crash, thus financial disasters only affect the rest of society. 

Mobile Commerce

Mobile commerce started way before the iPhone in 1997. The first mobile transfer was to pay for a soda at the Coca-Cola vending machines in Finland. It was a service that allowed customers to purchase via mobile SMS text instead of inserting cash in the machines. All other countries followed the trend and mobile commerce began expanding ever since. 



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By 1999, Japan could buy airline tickets via phones, in 2000, Norway found the mobile service to purchase parking tickets, and Austria introduced train ticket purchases via mobile commerce. Everything has moved to phones, like mobile purchases, transactions, banking, browsing, marketing, and advertising. 

PayPal Introduced

Peter Thiel and Max Levchin first introduced PayPal as “Confinity” in 1998. The company was a new innovation to low-cost digital payments and transactions for consumers, businesses, family, and friends. Their easy plan worked: in exchange for emails, bank, and credit card information, people got an efficient platform to handle digital money/transactions. 



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By 2001, the company settled with the name “PayPal.” By 2002 it was sold to eBay for $1.5 million, but in 2014, they parted ways and PayPal became a single company. PayPal was the pioneer of a digital-based “currency.” In other words, we may be moving to an era where cash ceases to exist, and digital exchange remains. 

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is both a digital and virtual currency secured by cryptography which means one cannot counterfeit or double-spend. They are not under the control of any government, authority, or institution; therefore, they cannot be hijacked by these manipulative forces. Cryptocurrency is based on blockchain technology which ensures the integrity of transactions via virtual “tokens.” 



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In other words, there is no need for third parties but instead, the system is backed up by structured public cryptographic codes and private ones. They’re not the typical methods of transactions/wallets which is why there is quite a lot of controversy around it. Some cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Dash, Monero, and ZCash. 

Virtual Currency

It seems we are moving from digital currency to a world of virtual currency. Virtual currency is an electronic method of transaction and payment via mobile and computer software and digital wallets. The difference between regular money and virtual currency is that it is not controlled by any bank or authority. 



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Virtual currency is also slightly different from digital currency (although they can go hand in hand); digital currency is still issued by the bank (aka your checking or savings account), but virtual currency is simply the digital token. Virtual currency can be restricted within a group of members and only circulated within that virtual community/group. 

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that was introduced by an entity with the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. It was introduced via a paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System.” Bitcoin in itself is a reward/payment gained from a process called “mining,” which then can be exchanged with other services, products, and currencies. 



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It is a type of cryptocurrency that consists of cryptography that ensures safe financial transactions and monitors and creates additional units. Bitcoin, like all other virtual money and cryptocurrencies, is a threat to valueless fiat money and it is gradually winning over the financial system. 

FRS’s nightmare, NESARA

The National Global Economic Security & Reformation Act was initially introduced by the American Congress in 2000, but never actually announced publicly. Now more than ever, this act has been brought to the forefront and it is the Federal Reserve Bank’s biggest enemy for the strong changes it carries. 



Photo Courtesy: [Marco Verch Professional Photographer/Flickr]


Some of what this act enforces is the forgiveness of all debt (credit, mortgage, and fraud), rids of income tax and abolishes the IRS altogether, monitors elections and prohibits all illegal elections, restores the Constitutional Law, abolishes the FRS and all money supply, plus a whole lot more. There is a shadow government, elites that do not want this act to happen because it will be the end of division and power, but gradually this act is making its way through the people as an introduction into a whole new financial & authority system based on integrity.