🏛️ Before Cryptos: How Did Finance Work?

Finance not only existed before cryptocurrencies, but it has a millennia-old history that has evolved with every technological, political, and social change. Cryptos are just the latest iteration of a system that began thousands of years ago.

🔄 1. Barter and commodity economies (6000 B.C.)

• Direct exchange of goods: "I give you wheat for fish."

• Problem: difficult to establish equivalences → the need for a unit of value arises.

🐚 2. Primitive money: shells, Rai stones, salt

• Used as a medium of exchange in different cultures.

• Value based on scarcity and social acceptance.

🪙 3. Metal coins (7th century B.C.)

• Lydia (present-day Turkey): first coins of electrum (gold + silver).

• Advantages: durability, portability, state backing.

📜 4. Paper money and bank receipts (13th century A.D.)

• China: Yuan dynasty introduces banknotes.

• Europe: banks issue notes backed by precious metals.

🏦 5. Banks and credit (Middle Ages onward)

• Florence, Venice: the first modern banks emerge.

• Deposit, transfer, and loan systems are created.

📈 6. Financial markets (17th century)

• Amsterdam: first stock market.

• Companies sell shares, investors buy stakes.

🪙 7. Gold standard (1870–1930)

• Money had to be backed by gold reserves.

• Limited money supply → stability but little flexibility.

⚡ So what changed with cryptos?

Cryptocurrencies did not invent finance, but they did challenge its infrastructure:

• They eliminated intermediaries (banks, governments).

• They introduced digital scarcity (Bitcoin as digital gold).

• They opened debates about privacy, sovereignty, and algorithmic trust.

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