The Money Game

Money has been a tool in the repertoire of Humanity for thousands of years. As a social species, everything we do involves exchange, in one form or another. We exchange time, attention, knowledge, favors, and labor. Money is the tool we use to record, track, price, and exchange for items and actions of value. Money is a social and material technology, used during the social act of exchanging value with one another.

Money, Price, and Value.

Money is what we use to communicate the price and cost of the exchange of value. The price is not always reflective of the true costs involved in developing a product or providing a service. Further, price and value are two entirely different concepts. Price is the number of units we use to exchange for the thing that we want. In the past, you might be able to exchange a cow for 10 bushels of tobacco. While value is a relationship of interdependence. Practically, value is the ability of something to fulfill a desire or need. Value can either be be explicit, meaning there is an obvious use or benefit, or intrinsic, meaning that we like what we like for personal reasons.

Value

Explicit

Implicit

Intrinsic

Added

Traditionally, there are two types of money:

Money of Account

Clay Tablets, Ledgers, Credit, Banks Account, Receipts, Credit Points, Reward Points and Loyalty Programs, Frequent Shopping Cards, Hotel Points, Airline Miles

Money of Exchange

Coins, Paper Money, Crops, Coupons, Shells, Gemstones, Beads

In 2008, a new form of money was invented with the creation of Bitcoin, and Ethereum later in 2013, Money of Computation.

Currency - A euphemism for money of exchange, typically used as a form of payment.

Specie Currency

Commodity Currency

Fiat Currency

Private Currency

Digital Currency

Virtual Currency

Public Money

Private Money

Programmable Money

Time Value of Money

Money of Account Anything that is used to track the exchange of value; Receipts, clay tablets, Subject to abuse through information and power asymmetries Money of Exchange A physical item that is used as a representation of value. Historically; shells, rice, metals, coins. The commodity used as a money of exchange should maintain relative value over time. Subject to abuse through debasement through changing the purity of the metals used to mint coins. Programmable Money Money of exchange, tokens, that can be programmed with specific behaviors based on meeting specific conditions.