First we need to understand a bank and the service it provides. Essentially, a bank’s role is to extend money in the form of credit. Imagine the global monetary system as a network; banks are the nodes in that network where the ‘rubber meets the road’. In the best of cases, a bank will be able to extend loans and hold deposits and this security and trust enables an economy to grow. This is a win-win scenario. Or is it?..
Consider the bank itself. It is probably a private entity with investors who want to earn a return on their capital investment. Where will that profit come from? Don’t forget the friendly (or not-so-friendly) bank tellers and other employees who work at a bank branch. Where do their wages come from? In fact, those profits and expenses come directly out of the pocket of the depositors – the very people the bank is designed to service!
Now, we started off by recognizing that credit/money are essential for commerce in 2018 right? Then why is @john-robert criticizing banks? Shouldn’t we (the users of money) just take our lumps and keep our mouths shut? No.
I think we can do better and technology enables us to do much better. What if we can directly connect borrowers and savers and export the tricky issue of trust to a public blockchain? What if we can organize the provision of credit efficiently in an economy without a physical bank building? I believe all of this is possible and more.
Look for more from the new steem account @accracreditunion, which will cover these issues and more in the coming weeks.
A Big shout to the team over in Accra, Ghana working to make this vision a reality for the shared prosperity and financial freedom of all. For those who don’t know – Accra may just go down as the next Silicon Valley...
Exciting prospects for @accracreditunion@john-robert
Fiat is a mere token with government backing but not backed by any asset of intrinsic value. The choice now is to either have tokens backed by the government or backed directly by you.
The fact the government is only our representative should be of no problem. Theoretically the govt wants what we want and it should do what its told by us. Now we all know that's not going to happen. So we are going to choose a path that allows us to do it peacefully.
PS: Last few days have been crazy. I haven't been able to read all the posts as I usually do, but now I am back on saddle. So no worries :-)
Great to see you back @hashcash - I trusty everything worked out well enough.
"Fiat" is a broad term I am sure you will agree. In practice, the quality of the fiat currency comes down to the strength of the sovereign. The USA dollar may fare well relative to other fiat currencies. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
That about sums it up. Fiat's only backing is by the government and bigger the stick the said government holds, more leveraged is the paper it backs.
Thank you for your continued support of SteemSilverGold
I am interested in what @accracreditunion has to say. Let's wait for the posts.
The infrastructure and security in banks are very important for our daily doings and nothing will replace it in the near future
Banks provide a very different sort of trust. The best we can do is point to alternatives and let the free market decide.
A very good point, I followed you, good content!
Banking and Investments are topics that people don't really comprehend as they should yet still we are all patronisers, am glad you are taking a point on these. I look forward to the next silicon valley #accracreditunion, perhaps it comes along with the change we all have been yearning for
I wish I had an answer for you... If we have no bank employees, who decides if we qualify for a loan...???
I, like most people, hate all the Fees the Banks charge for this and that... I'm very careful when I deal with any Bank... I feel for the people who work at Banks and don't want to see them lose their jobs... Nice post... I'll try to keep updated on what you're doing...
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STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
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