Smart Money on the Front Line
The battle for the future of money is inseparable from the current struggle for humanity's fundamental values. It will determine the type of society we live in and the freedoms we can enjoy.
Part I
Within 1 or 2 years, artificial intelligence is expected to be ten times more effective than it is today. By 2025, it is projected to be 100 times more effective. Advances as significant as these will rapidly transform the world. Governments and political leaders have never faced a technological transformation or challenge of this magnitude, notably the emergence of smart money.
In a conflict scenario that threatens to become global, where autocracies and theocracies compete with democracies for the supremacy of opposing principles and values, two kinds of digital currencies reflect opposing worldviews. They are preparing to swell the digital ranks of the global dispute between their respective blocks of nations.
Digital Currencies: The new silent weapons of ideological warfare
Money is becoming intelligent and is about to be intertwined in the defense of the principles and values underlying the conflicts that today make headlines. On the one hand, centralized digital currencies, designed to reinforce state control, are created to control transactions and restrict individual freedoms, as is already happening in China. On the other hand, decentralized currencies, born to provide their users autonomy, privacy, and financial freedom, encourage innovation and promote the transparency of financial transactions, contributing to more ethical and sustainable entrepreneurship that humanizes capitalism.
The choice between these two monetary systems is not just technical or economic; it is deeply political. The battle for the future of money is inseparable from the current struggle for humanity's fundamental values. It will determine the type of society we live in, our rights, and our freedoms.
From ancestral exchanges to current conflicts: Money in the trajectory of humanity
Money has always been a means to facilitate exchanges. Long before the invention of currency, it already existed, in a purely virtual form, as a calculation system in the minds of those participating in and witnessing transactions within small human groupings. The money of that remote time was based on mental calculations and resided in the collective memory of the members of tribes and clans. Since immemorial, peace and humanity's development have been closely linked to this accounting that settled all accounts. Therefore, exchanges have always been at the heart of civilizational progress. However, the nature of money has changed, and our central economic incentive system is failing significantly. The conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine are the ultimate cruelest reflection of a trading system wholly misaligned with human values, resulting in complete material and moral misery.
Amplified inequalities: The middle-class crisis in a changing world
Given the pace of technological advancement and the remarkable increase in productivity, how can there still be so much misery? How is it possible that the middle class is shrinking worldwide? Are we facing a system that facilitates exchanges and whose benefits are shared according to the effort and merit of each individual, or are we dealing with an economic-financial incentive system that perpetuates and exacerbates inequalities despite extraordinary technological progress?
The promise of programmable money: Reflecting and shaping human values
As always, money is at the center of human life, and it is through it that things can improve. Thanks to artificial intelligence and advanced cryptography, a new type of money has emerged—digital and programmable—that can be used to purchase goods and services and represent human values.
Invalidating the saying that "money buys bread, but not gratitude," new monetary systems composed of programmable digital currencies can ensure transaction transparency and visibility, encouraging ethical and sustainable behaviors. The collective memory of money is now computable and extendable to the "global village," so individual and collective interests can become two sides of the same coin.
While traditional monetary systems reward competition and accumulation, new intelligent financial systems can reward cooperation and generosity. Instead of being part of the problem, money can become part of the solution, helping to build a better world. We can shape a more just and equitable economy by adopting currencies that reflect human values. This improvement is already starting, as seen in the second part.
Part II
In the first part, we saw how new digital currencies can reflect the principles and values of two very different political systems. As expected, some authoritarian regimes have already centralized their currencies. As for the free world, the future of "smart money" is still open: Will cryptocurrencies coexist in free competition with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), or will all decentralized digital currencies be "canceled" using disinformation and eventually banned? To glimpse the implications of the current evolution of money, we must understand that digital currencies are very different from traditional ones.
Bitcoin: The symbol of financial resistance in crisis regions
More than a digital currency, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin is a pioneering symbol of resistance against failed, centralized, and oppressive financial systems. In countries like Venezuela, with its rampant inflation, or Argentina, with its repeated capital controls, Bitcoin is synonymous with a "lifeline" for many. These and other examples may foreshadow a global transformation where more countries will seek refuge in the emerging world of cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum: Smart contracts and the reinvention of exchanges in the digital age
There are thousands of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts in the Ethereum system. These help programmable monetary systems form in networks where financial rules are coded and automatically carried out based on the conditions set by the contract logic established between the parties without any middlemen. It is true that most cryptocurrencies created to date have little or no human interest (many aim at mere speculation) and naturally extinguish themselves in the market. However, other valid and meritorious projects emerge thanks to human creativity and ingenuity. In a blockchain network, all transactions are transparently recorded and freely verifiable. For example, on the "Giveth" donation platform, donors choose specific projects, obtaining a guarantee to monitor the destination of the donated money. Just like tracking a postal package, these benevolent individuals can follow the trail of their donations in real-time and ensure that they reach precisely where intended, without risks of diversion or obscure fees.
DAOs: Participatory democracy and collective action in the digital age
Another example of intelligent financial systems is DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), communities governed by digital currencies and "tokens" used as votes. Consider "MolochDAO": it is not just a financial fund but a space where management includes each member's voice, just one vote away. These "voices" or votes are not merely symbolic but digital currencies embodying and conveying political will.
In other words, in addition to having financial value, digital currencies also weigh in collective deliberation. When members of a DAO participate in voting proposals within the Ethereum ecosystem, they give their digital currencies a function that transcends mere negotiation or consumption. Thus, money acquires a dynamic and practical role. Beyond being units of account or means of exchange (having exchange value), it also becomes an instrument to express opinions in collective deliberations (having use value). This change is money becoming intelligent and directly realizing the will of its holders, allowing them to influence the community's decisions actively. Such a technological improvement represents a new political-economic framework that challenges the traditional understanding of democracy. It will enable it to evolve from representative to participatory, with each individual gaining the capacity and incentive to intervene in decisions that guide collective action.
Monetary choices and freedom
Our reflection becomes more urgent as the creation of intelligent money brings with it significant political challenges. Naturally, the choice of digital currencies with which people prefer to operate will be prohibited in authoritarian regimes, whose population will have centralized digital currencies more akin to surveillance and control tools than to free means of exchange. Instead, democratic societies are perfect for many cryptocurrencies issued mainly by citizens who compete with each other freely. Since freedom encourages creativity, decentralized digital currencies have the vast potential for innovation and growth that comes with being able to make trades without any restrictions. Therefore, political leaders must recognize the importance of freedom of choice, avoiding the exclusive adoption of centralized financial structures and monetary systems. The path of monetary centralization is no longer the safest solution, as putting all eggs in one basket (or "single point of failure") offers gold to the bandit in times of artificial intelligence. Furthermore, it is a path too narrow for innovation and intolerably slippery for the privacy and freedom of citizens in the digital age.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence and digital currencies must be landmarks of progress in the history of humanity. Societies must program intelligent money smartly, transparently, and ethically to strengthen participatory democracy and protect freedom. We should use the information about personal data and transactions to boost the collective intelligence of our communities rather than letting intelligence attached to power centers centralize and accumulate such information. Thus, it is urgent to recognize that digital currencies place the power of the future at our fingertips, more precisely in our digital wallets.