What will money look like in the future? Will it even exist at all? Peer into six differing visions for the stuff that makes the world go round.
What is the future of money? Six differing visions
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What’s the fate of crypto tokens? Look to 17th-century London
There are currently at least 13,000 different cryptocurrency tokens in existence. Can all of these new forms of digital money survive? 17th-century London might provide an unexpected answer.
Operation Bernhard – The Nazi plot to carpet bomb Britain with fake pounds
Learn the story behind Operation Bernhard, the Nazi plan to counterfeit British pounds and then drop them on the UK to cause economic chaos.
The Chiasso billion dollar Bearer Bond mystery
In 2009, a sleepy provincial Italian town was the scene of one of the strangest-ever financial crimes. Two Japanese men en route to Switzerland were found by Italian police to have $134 billion in bearer bonds in a false-bottomed suitcase.
The crypto custody conundrum – How to secure a Seed
From memory palaces to punching passwords into metal sheets, we look at solutions to the unique security problem posed by crypto’s promise to be your own bank.
The Five Most Valuable Lost Treasures
From Sumatra to the Caribbean via a Welsh rubbish dump, discover the five most valuable lost treasures, representing over £20bn in value.
Why can’t you create your own money?
Why can’t you create your own money? Fuck about and find out. While historical punishments for counterfeiters and coiners included being fed to wild beasts or hung, drawn and quartered, the modern protection of monetary privilege is more subtle but not less determined.
The Cantillon Effect & the privilege of proximity to the money spout
Discover the importance of the Cantillon Effect. Why being closest to the money spout is a source of inequality, and whether anything can fix it.
What is the Circular Economy & can we realistically achieve it?
The idea of a Circular Economy is increasingly promoted as the solution to our mounting environmental and social problems. But what does the term mean, and is it achievable?
Use it or lose it: Demurrage currency, money with an expiry date
How would you feel if your money expired like milk turning sour? Money with an expiry date, aka demurrage currency, might seem nuts, but could soon be coming to a central bank near you.
Can you get paid to do nothing?
From Bullshit Jobs to Japan’s Rental-do-nothing-man we look at jobs that promise to pay you to do nothing. Can you get wealthy without lifting a finger?
What was coin clipping & why did it carry the death penalty?
When coins were made of silver and gold, for some, the temptation to remove a slither was too great. Coin clipping was widespread despite carrying the death penalty.
How Michael Larson hustled Press Your Luck
Read the story of how Michael Larson, an ice cream van driver hustled his way to the biggest win in game show history.
What is currency debasement?
We illustrate the dull concept of currency debasement by looking back at the Roman Empire, coin clippers, hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic and connect it to the rise of Bitcoin.
What Squirrels & Cicadas can teach us about time preference
A Cicada that waits 17 years underground to emerge; a Squirrel that can memorise the location of thousands of nuts by value. Meet nature’s low time preference specialists.
What are the origins of money?
When you learn how our need for money first emerged, it might change how you value your time and energy today.
What is a post scarcity society?
Inspired by 80’s sci-fi, Elon Musk envisions a world without work where AI acts like a magic Genie. But how do we get from now to this abundant future?
The challenges of salvaging lost treasure
There are reportedly 3,000 shipwrecks containing lost treasure dotted around the ocean floor waiting to be found. So what’s stopping intrepid treasure hunters from claiming this hugely valuable historic booty?