The future of money

How did we get to the point where so much of the world's money is, in a sense, fictional; a quiet social contract in which we simply agree that certain numbers represent a certain value? What's next for this pivotal invention that now underpins our world? Its nature, even its role, are changing. From pouch to pocket to pixel, as money becomes software, the core issue is no longer how it looks or even how it moves. It's who decides where it goes, when it stops, and why

- Kashyap Kompella

For years, the future of money has been framed as a contest of forms.

Would cash survive? Would the dollar be dethroned? Would we eventually pay via thumbprints, retinal scans, barcodes embedded in skin?

These are interesting questions, but not the most important ones. Because the deeper shift isn’t about form.

It is about access.

In a world where money is programmable, traceable, and conditional, the critical questions will be: Who decides how it is used? And: Who will be watching, each time you swipe?