Dec 15, 2021
Money has taken a lot of different forms over time, including gold & other metals in addition to fiat paper currencies. It's arguable whether bitcoin and other decentralized currencies are the next version of money. What's clear is that governments around the world are in an arms race to create their version of "centralized" digital currency. In today's episode of Grow Money Business, J Scott Christianson joins us to describe central bank digital currencies, the arms race to create them, and potential uses and misuses in the future.
[02:44] Digital Currency - While digital currencies have become relatively recent mainstream phenomena, they have existed for decades. Scott discusses this new endeavor of developing digital currency.
[07:28] Adopting Digital Currency – Scott highlights the gravity of adopting digital currency in a country by assessing its dangers and possibilities.
[10:39] Transition - Scott outlines how moving from a conventional reserve system to digital money works logistically.
[13:37] China and Digital Currency - Scott broadly talks about China's stance on digital currency from various angles.
[19:37] China and El Salvador - While China prohibits bitcoin transactions and mining, El Salvador accepts Bitcoin as legal tender. Scott shares his perspective on this schism.
[23:36] Role of USA – Scott discusses the options that the US may have in its arsenal to delay China's deployment of programmable money.
[28:25] Banking System in the Future - Scott discusses the potential of more authoritarian counties attempting to implement controlled digital currencies, and his predictions for the global banking system in five years.
[35:23] Fiat Currency and Cryptocurrency - Scott shares his thoughts on that intersection between fiat currency and cryptocurrency.
[40:42] Artificial Intelligence – Scott briefly discusses artificial intelligence and his predictions for where it will go in the next five to ten years.
[48:48] Life with AI – Scott shares what applications he believes AI will enable in the following years.
Resources:
Connect with Scott:
Website: christiansonjs.com/
Newsletter: frtech.substack.com/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jscottchristianson/
Instagram: instagram.com/jscott_mo/
Mentioned in the episode:
China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa:goodreads.com/book/show/18373202-china-s-second-continent?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=xKOtuMBlWl&rank=1
Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy Is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth-and How to Fix It: goodreads.com/book/show/36204377-edge-of-chaos?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=p27uTlbTHw&rank=3