Switzerland tends to be renowned for several things, the most famous of which include the snow-covered Alps, fabulous chocolate and money. Let’s just say that the stories of Swiss banks are so legendary that they have infiltrated a plethora of pop culture references and the minds of millions all over the world. However, on the 10th of June a new piece of legislation could forever alter the way that this country deals with money.
As it is Switzerland is a nation that has been rather favorable to Cryptocurrencies, but it seems that with the exponential increase in popularity of Cryptocurrencies over the past few years, many within Switzerland are beginning to ask the question what exactly constitutes money.
Cryptocurrencies Early Days
Cryptocurrencies came out into the world in the early days of 2009, and from then the world has grabbed onto it like world fire. Initially, the movement began, as a movement to rebel against the established financial and legislative institutions, since Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies in general, are an autonomous, form of performing transactions outside of the realms of a government or private institutions control.
Now, the goal of taking control of the world’s financial system out from under the control of banks and nations may or may not have had significant progress, but what has happened is that countless governments and all kinds of financial institutions have adopted it. Which is an award in itself, if not exactly the intended goal.
The Makeup Of Bitcoin
Bitcoin does have unique clauses within its makeup, some of which were created due to current fiat currency system in place. The main clause of note is that Bitcoin was created as having a complete reserve; therefore there would never be a need for any nation or bank to create more of the currency. This is in direct contrast to the current system whereby nations can print additional monies in order to artificially manipulate their currency.
The 10th Of June’s Proceedings
On the 10th of June in Switzerland, there will be a vote for all citizens to decide whether or not they should switch to an alternative currency system known as ‘Vollgeld’. The implications of such a move would mean that there would be no printing of money, as Switzerland would be making use of Cryptocurrencies as their medium of exchange. In addition, lending institutions and banks would find it harder to supply credit, as the main form of credit would now be savings stored within the institutions themselves.
As it is the Swiss are already one of the most accommodating Bitcoin nations in the world, having multiple easy pay Bitcoin ATMs in subways as well as the national bank allowing citizens to store all Bitcoin acquisitions with them as of July 2017. However, despite the fact that Bitcoin is instilled within the nation, it is not yet clear that the vote will be a definitive yes. Data that has been collected currently only show around one-third will vote yes, while a tenth of the population is on the fence.
One thing is clear, one of the main financial hubs is delving deep into its financial systems and the implications for the rest of the world are enormous.
