{"id":5935,"date":"2020-11-24T17:26:44","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T17:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/?p=5935"},"modified":"2020-12-10T11:09:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T11:09:35","slug":"a-money-revolution-is-going-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/24\/a-money-revolution-is-going-on\/","title":{"rendered":"A money revolution is going on"},"content":{"rendered":"

The increasing adoption of cryptodollars<\/a>\u2014digital dollar tokens that can be passed hand-to-hand\u2014is a sure sign of the revolution that\u2019s taking place in money, says Nic Carter, our guest on the latest New Money Review<\/em> podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carter, a former cryptoasset analyst at fund manager Fidelity, is a venture capitalist and cofounder of blockchain data firm Coinmetrics.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nic Carter<\/em><\/p>\n

Cryptodollars\u2014Carter\u2019s preferred name for stablecoins that are settled on public blockchains\u2014are a highly disruptive innovation, he says, calling them \u201cthe first killer app of crypto\u201d.<\/p>\n

By contrast with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, whose prices are highly volatile, there’s no price speculation in stablecoins, which track the value of a currency like the dollar, euro, swiss franc or yen.<\/p>\n

These fiat currency substitutes are designed to facilitate payments, and are doing so on an increasing scale.<\/p>\n

Stablecoin users can transfer value quickly and safely over the internet and without going through the banking system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time the crypto industry has manufactured something of immediate relevance to the outside world,\u201d Carter says.<\/p>\n

He says the key innovation in stablecoins is the trading of quasi-dollars over cryptocurrency networks, which operate independently from the legacy financial system.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy tying the settlement assurances of the blockchain with a token that represents an IOU for funds held in a bank account, you get something quite powerful,\u201d says Carter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re just at the beginning of seeing the applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

The invention of cryptodollars could have far-reaching implications, says Carter, for example by cutting the costs of remittances.<\/p>\n

Currently, migrant workers face stubbornly high fees when sending money from rich countries to poorer ones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the podcast, Carter says blockchain-based dollars could \u201cflatten out the topology of the correspondent banking system\u201d and reduce dependence on the New York-centric dollar clearing system.<\/p>\n

Listen to the podcast<\/a> to hear Carter and New Money Review<\/em> editor Paul Amery discuss:<\/p>\n