By Russ Wiles | The Republic | azcentral.com
Imagine that moment, maybe 3,000 years ago, when an artisan in the Middle East one day got paid not in grain but in shiny silver coins. Or that time in Colonial America when a weaver or blacksmith received wages not as coins but in freshly printed paper currency.
Both events, or something like them, marked major milestones in the evolution of money, and they had profound impacts for society and economic development.
Many people think society is now on a similar cusp with digital currencies.
The fact that bitcoins, the most prominent form, marked their fifth birthday this year strongly suggests that digital money is here to stay. Bitcoins still are not widely embraced by the public. They’re also somewhat cumbersome to use, confusing to non-tech geeks and subject to wide price swings. Yet they continue to gain acceptance. Overstock.com recently declared that it would take bitcoins in payment. The Sacramento Kings basketball team is planning to accept them for tickets. Virgin Galactic is taking them for future space flights.
