Its a common trope that cryptocurrency, digital currency, or digital assets are disrupting the financial industry and will usher in a new future of financial inclusion. Thats all well and good, but how can we imagine this future?

If youre interested in tackling questions like this, join us next month at Hard Fork Summit, TNWs dedicated blockchain and cryptocurrency event. But until then, lets take a look at a method to help us consider what the future of digital currencies might look like.

Theres an economic concept by Jens Beckert called Imagined Futures. Basically, he says traditional economic theory, where decisions are based on history, isnt entirely fair. Rather, people also make decisions based on what they believe will come true in the future. Everyone has the power to imagine and decided whatever they want.

Importantly, Beckert also talks of how these visions are important, even if they dont come true. Regardless of their manifestation, they coordinate groups of people toward a collective future that we all must share. They should be taken seriously, for their ability to do this and not necessarily for what they promise specifically.

Everyday, in the world of crypto and blockchain, we are sold a new imagination of the future. Yet, theres nothing to say that one will succeed, where another will fail.

Even thoughBitcoinis often credited as being the catalyst that started thecryptocurrencymovement, most cryptocurrencies and digital currencies are now very different from what Satoshi Nakamoto set out to create.

To put Bitcoin in the same basket as Ripple is convenient, but its misleading. In these two cases, the coins are based on very different technologies, use different consensus mechanisms, and occupy very different places in the market.Digital tokens like Facebooks Libra and Telegrams Ton muddy the water even further. Industry newcomers will often struggle to tell the difference.

Take Libra for example. Reports said Libra would be Facebooks Bitcoin, but this couldnt be any further from the truth. Much has been said about the supposedly decentralized consortium of companies that will run Libra, and in reality its not that decentralized at all.

Its important then to recognize this industry is composed of a broad spectrum of projects, making a broad spectrum of promises. Cryptocurrencies, tokens, and digital assets all appear to be fighting over the same market, but they are all taking very different approaches. It cannot be overstated how important it is to understand how one approach differs from another.

By understanding that the future is subjective and that projects, regulators, and, ourselves perceive and create different visions of it, we can begin to understand what it might look like as a whole.

Well be exploring what the future holds for cryptocurrency and more atHard ForkSummit. Join us in Amsterdam on October 15-17 to discussblockchainandcryptocurrencywith leading experts.

Published September 27, 2019 10:07 UTC

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How to think about the future of digital currency - The Next Web