Pretend an alien spaceship, in the very far future landed on planet Earth and wanted to trade with Humans.
Kind of like how the Europeans traded with the Native Americans in the 16th century (OK BAD example it didn't turn out well for the Native Americans but this is Stacker News :D )
Would the trade take place with beads? No, no utility.
Artwork? Cars? NY property or real estate? No way. Too bulky. Not practical.
And Humans could just make more of these things... and there is no way you could take Real Estate back in the Spaceship! (plus if the Aliens really wanted the Real Estate they would just Take It! ;)
In any case the other aliens would laugh at those Aliens for being on the other end of a bad trade. On the other end with this crap!
So what is something the other Aliens would want too? That they could mathematically understand? That the Humans couldn't make more of?! That required large amounts of energy to create and was provably, mathematically scarce?
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That was easily transportable over long distances?
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That was small and light, even in a small spaceship?
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That was valuable, but also digital (and easily saved)?
Gold (even if it were universally scarce) would be heavy and by the time you saw the Humans again WHO KNOWS how much the Humans would have mined! Wouldn't you showing up in a space ship, asking for Gold, other than being a bad meme just increase the rate at which Gold is mined (inflating the supply)!
So what about a technology trade? Probably not :(
The Humans don't have the technology the aliens want anyway... (The Aliens have a badass spaceship) and why give technology to the Humans? Which the Humans might use against their enemy at some point? (Can't trust those Humans!)
No, the trade and the asset would have to be trust-less.
OK then precious metals - Gold Silver maybe Uranium?
Radioactive isotopes maybe... but they would probably be too heavy for the spaceship. Or damage it, or be impractical to take back to the 'home planet' such a long distance.
- And isn't uranium abundant on the asteroids and planets the aliens traveled by anyway? Why not make a 'pit stop' to pick up Uranium on an asteroid... just to trade with the Humans for... more Uranium? It doesn't make sense anyway and for Gold cough cough and Silver it would be even dumber.
No, the aliens would take all the precious metals, minerals, and isotopes naturally occurring in space, and if they are going to trade with Humans it would not be for something they could just as easily mine and accumulate themselves.
The Plan:
- Get spaceship.
- Get asteroid.
- Trade with Humans for... more of the same?
- Profit???
So what would the Aliens trade for that THEY KNEW was scarce, would remain scare, with a provably mathematical inflationary rate for the next thousand years while they took A LONG TRIP in their space ship?
- Through inter-dimensions?
- Through time and space?
- While other Alien civilizations Rose and Fell.
Well if it's NOT precious metals or extractable minerals...
And it's NOT paper money (Why wouldn't the Humans just make MORE of that? Doesn't it usually become worthless over a few decades anyway?)
And it's NOT paper money (Why wouldn't the Humans just make MORE of that? Doesn't it usually become worthless over a few decades anyway?)
And if it NEEDS to be something you could come back in your spaceship, and prove at any time was created according to the rules of Software, Physics, Math, and Scarcity...
That you could Mathematically understand and that the Humans couldn't CHEAT YOU ON!!
What would that Asset and Medium of Exchange be?
What is timeless, theoretically lasts forever when stamped into titanium, cannot be hacked, cannot be confiscated, that is provably scarce and is mined with predictable frequency... that is lightweight of infinite economic density. That's also digital and can be broadcasted from very long distances and lasts theoretically a very very long time?
It's Bitcoin.
And Aliens may not understand Art, may not understand Culture, and will never understand Human Governments (I don't either) but they can understand Math [~8/21 Million]
800 Billion Billion SHA-256 operations a second, mathematically provable, for the next 1000 years is a currency an Alien Civilization could tender.
Bitcoin is something that the Aliens can trade for (if they wanted to trade). And the moment that the Humans figured that out the network Hash Rate would jump... making Bitcoin more secure, increasing the current exchange rate, making it more likely not less that the perfect medium of exchange over very-long distances and over very long time periods is Bitcoin and would survive forever.
- If Star Trek had a money it would be Bitcoin.
- And the Money of Intergalactic Trade, with an Alien Civilization, will probably be Bitcoin.
It is the only provable, trustless, neutral, Medium of Exchange that meets a minimum threshold for Commerce with Alien Civilizations.
It is the Ultimate Medium of Exchange.