IEEE Spectrum Digs Into the Future of Money

New submitter ArmageddonLord writes "Small, out-of-pocket cash exchanges are still the stuff of everyday life. In 2010, cash transactions in the United States totaled $1.2 trillion (not including extralegal ones, of course). There will come a day, however, when you'll be able to transfer funds just by holding your cellphone next to someone else's and hitting a few keys — and this is just one of the ways we'll wean ourselves off cash. In 'The Last Days of Cash,' a special report on the future of money, we describe the various ways that technology is transforming how we pay for stuff; how it's boosting security by linking our biometric selves with our accounts; and how it's helping us achieve, at least in theory, an ancient ideal — money that cannot be counterfeited."

Comments

Re:Freedom

[egamma]

yes, the fiat currency we are using instead of money are merely debt-notes designed to allow a few wealthy elite to confiscate and control real wealth. we should start using money again.

you mean, we should use shiny pieces of worthless metal? yeah, that's useful...

Paper money and 'valuable' metals are used as currency as a convenience. It would not be convenient for us to buy an iPhone by bartering them for 100,000 gallons of water, nor would it be easy for the electric company to pay their employees in electricity. Money makes the world go 'round, just stop being paranoid about it.