Disruptive technologies displace old technologies. E-mail replaced mail. Smartphones replaced telephones. 3D printing could replace cupcake makers and medical device manufacturers alike. And today, news is crawling with innumerous future disruptors. Drones, the Internet of Things, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence are all poised to change our lives.
But disruptive technology advocates sometimes overlook Bitcoin, perhaps because of it’s reputation as a currency for digital drug bazaars. That’s a mistake. Bitcoin—or something like it—has a shot at displacing today’s money. It could be every bit as disruptive as the items in the above list.
Here’s why disruptive tech lovers have more in common with Bitcoin fans than they might think:
1. Bitcoin challenges the status quo
Disruptive tech fans have adopted a mindset for change. They challenge the status quo and ask how we can do better. This applies just as well to money.
Bitcoin is superior to the status quo in many ways. It can be used on a global scale. You can pay a friend in Russia in minutes without an intermediary’s help.
2. Bitcoin is an equalizer
Many are drawn to disruptive technologies because they empower users. Someday 3D printers will allow anyone to print plastic cups and toothbrush holders from their home, for example.
The same goes for Bitcoin. Anyone with an Internet connection can and create their own bank account, rather than wait on a bank to approve. Even though many bank-like third parties, such as Coinbase and Circle, have cropped up to help users take care of their money, Bitcoin users always have the option to maintain sole control of their money.
That’s especially compelling in regions where groups of people lack equal rights under the law. Attorney Pamela Morgan has explored how Bitcoin could empower women around the world. She gives the example of distributing control over finances in a scarf-weaving cooperative in Pakistan. Since control can be distributed, male relatives can’t go to a third party and confiscate the funds.
3. Bitcoin’s disruptiveness runs deep
Bitcoin is a bigger change than other FinTech technologies. Unlike mobile payments with Apple Pay, it could transform money at a fundamental level. That’s what “disruptive” tech is all about, right?
4. Bitcoin can interact with disruptive technologies
In a recent report Swiss researchers explored “sensing-as-a-service” where people can pay for the data that Internet of Things—connecting everyday objects like toasters and bridges to the Internet—devices collect. In one example, Nike pays a Central Park sidewalk sensor, which collects data about all the joggers that cross its path. Since Bitcoin is faster and cheaper than other technologies, the researchers concluded, it is more suitable for paying for small chunks of data. With Bitcoin, users can pay machines directly.
(You can also buy disruptive technologies with bitcoin. Case in point: I bought a camera drone with bitcoin online a couple of months ago.)
5. No one knows where it will lead us
Ex-Google engineer Mike Hearn imagines that driverless cars will one day own themselves with the help of Bitcoin wallets.
No one’s quite sure how Bitcoin will impact us in the long run. And that’s just one example of how it could play out. After all, no one could have known how impactful the Internet would be.
In short, anyone who prefers cars to horse-drawn buggies, smartphones to landline phones, or drones to mail trucks will probably like Bitcoin too.
Coin Congress San Francisco will unite disruptive tech and digital currency ecosystems August 2015. Get tickets!
