I think we're in the same camp, but I disagree that existing organizational structures will be able to compete with a decentralized, consensus-based network. I know the analogy is wearing thin, but I think of working within the current banking system as a bit like trying to lease time on a university mainframe circa 1980–difficult to access, and totally out of reach for anyone that isn't already on the periphery. You could send email and post to usenet, but you couldn't build an Amazon, or an Airbnb.
Of course banks can zip arbitrary amounts of cash all over the world, but I'm not a bank! The public internet created an economy where a clever and dedicated person can teach themselves all the skills necessary to pull down an income that was previously reserved for highly educated professionals. I believe cryptocurrency will have the same democratizing effect on finance, and open up opportunities for autodidacts that were previously only available to ivy-league MBAs. Most people will consider me an idealist (or a lunatic, if other commenters are to be believed), but I believe that we are on the verge of an unprecedented explosion of commercial innovation. Consider how long it took for the internet to filter from early adopters to the mainstream, and compare that to the growth of the bitcoin network. Last time it was decades, this time it was years, with exponential growth in just the last few months. I do have some bitcoins, and I wouldn't complain if they made me rich, but the exchange value of one particular unit of measure isn't what I'm excited about. There is just no way that top-down, private organizations can out-innovate the general public given access to a platform with the same capabilities and trivial barriers to entry. I'm especially hopeful that the ease of access and equal treatment of micropayments and massive wealth transfers will bootstrap parts of the world that are currently completely dark to the global economy. I hope that the speculative greed that is currently dominating the discussion around cryptocurrency won't overshadow its long term potential. Exciting times ahead!
I'm with you - but here's something that you may be overlooking:
1. New banks and new kinds of banks are forming every day with full rights and accreditations
2. You may not be a bank, but banks have APIs and methods of partnering with them so that you can act like a bank. Sure, you're still to some extent at their behest, but that can be mitigated all sorts of ways.
So maybe if you think banks as a whole won't be where we house our money in 50 years, then yeah, let's look at ways that cut those ties. I'm not of that opinion, at all actually, but it is one I can understand. My focus is how to empower individuals and businesses to have the same money transfer power that banks have - and I think I'm getting there.
Of course banks can zip arbitrary amounts of cash all over the world, but I'm not a bank! The public internet created an economy where a clever and dedicated person can teach themselves all the skills necessary to pull down an income that was previously reserved for highly educated professionals. I believe cryptocurrency will have the same democratizing effect on finance, and open up opportunities for autodidacts that were previously only available to ivy-league MBAs. Most people will consider me an idealist (or a lunatic, if other commenters are to be believed), but I believe that we are on the verge of an unprecedented explosion of commercial innovation. Consider how long it took for the internet to filter from early adopters to the mainstream, and compare that to the growth of the bitcoin network. Last time it was decades, this time it was years, with exponential growth in just the last few months. I do have some bitcoins, and I wouldn't complain if they made me rich, but the exchange value of one particular unit of measure isn't what I'm excited about. There is just no way that top-down, private organizations can out-innovate the general public given access to a platform with the same capabilities and trivial barriers to entry. I'm especially hopeful that the ease of access and equal treatment of micropayments and massive wealth transfers will bootstrap parts of the world that are currently completely dark to the global economy. I hope that the speculative greed that is currently dominating the discussion around cryptocurrency won't overshadow its long term potential. Exciting times ahead!