Quote from: iamTom123 on September 25, 2017, 10:02:21 AM

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In the coming war between digital currencies, which side will your money be on? If that question sounds crazy, meet Arthur Hayes, a former CitiGroup trader who runs BitMEX, a Hong Kong-based crypto exchange that allows eye-bulging leverage up to 100 times when buying and selling cryptocurrency derivatives.

Not just another Wall Street veteran, Hayes may also be one of the industry's biggest bitcoin bulls. It's a bold claim, but you might agree if you saw his newsletter a regular synthesis of cryptocurrency news, gangster quotes, GIFs and end-of-the-world premonitions. In fact, Hayes thinks blockchain is lighting a fuse that will ignite open combat between "true cryptocurrencies" (like bitcoin) and a new "digital fiat" controlled by central banks.

These two parallel currency systems are the inevitable outcome of his core investing thesis: "A digital society needs digital cash." In other words, bitcoin has brought the world cryptocurrency and institutions of all kinds will use the technology to their advantage.

Here's what Hayes sees shaking out as a result: Governments will respond to the proliferation of cryptocurrency by withdrawing banknotes from circulation, and governments will issue digital fiat that functions similarly to cryptocurrency.
But don't be fooled, according to Hayes, the similarities here are all on the surface.

Government-controlled digital fiat will be the antithesis of absolutely everything true cryptocurrency stands for. Central bank's issuance of digital money will lead to a brave new world where governments are able to monitor and control every single transaction in an economy. And countering that overreach is the reason Hayes believes bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have a value proposition not just today, but for years to come.

I think he's reaching a bit. Banks were already going digital before Bitcoin was invented. I'm pretty sure that countries like Sweden were moving towards a cashless society before Bitcoin existed as well.

But it certainly has moved things along. It's clear that both consumers and governments want to shift towards electronic payments (the former because it's more convenient, the latter because they are more trackable). I do think he's right about the coming war; China is set to roll out its blockchain currency soon.