This essay is adapted from an original lecture by the same name given by Ryne Saxe as FWB FEST24. Watch it here. Ryne Saxe is the CEO of Eco.

Growing up in a small town, I learned early that money is about more than just numbers in a bank account. My father, a local business owner, operated on a principle deeper than simple transactions—his word was his bond, and value flowed through relationships as much as through cash.

I remember from my childhood witnessing value transfer between my family and others, exchanges that may not have happened otherwise without immediate payment being an expectation. We were low in money but high in currency.

Money vs. Currency: More Than Just Semantics

We typically use "money" and "currency" interchangeably, but they're actually fascinating concepts with a rich, complex history. Think of them less as dry financial terms and more as evolving technologies for human connection.

Money is a societal construct. If you think about it long enough, you realize it’s actually a pretty esoteric concept — how we attach value to things, and derive various rights and freedoms from it.

However vague a concept, “money” has formalized over time with the rise of coordinated financial markets. The concept of money has consumed the secular concept of currency. But the concept of currency actually came first. If money is a societal construct, currency was and is a social one. And now I think they’re diverging again along those lines. Currency is sort of “re-liberalizing” if you will, and quickly.

A Brief (and Slightly Unconventional) History of Exchange

The standard story about money's origin goes something like this: Humans got tired of trading chickens for pottery, so we invented money. But the real story is far more interesting.

Emerging research suggests money didn't develop simply to compensate for trade inefficiencies. Instead, it evolved as a sophisticated way of tracking social obligations. Imagine early societies not as simple marketplaces, but as intricate networks of debt and credit. The concept of money came about as production increased and specialized, early civilizations began to trade, and social strata formed. Merchants or towns or early governments wanted to underwrite and increase production so they basically invented rudimentary credit systems. When they started to track debts and credits in writing, people started to exchange credits instead of settling debts in real goods.

A farmer might owe a carpenter a favor, which could be "paid" through various means—not just with coins, but with reputation, future assistance, or community standing.

The US Dollar's global dominance, for instance, isn't just about trade. It's a complex system of credit, trust, and collective agreement about value.

Before Currency Had a Name

Long before formal economic systems, "currency" was something entirely different. Value was measured by:

• Your reputation in the community
• The knowledge you brought
• Your ability to connect and contribute
• How well you maintained relationships

Sound familiar? It's essentially a pre-digital version of social capital.

We Invented This Whole System

Here's a mind-bending thought: Money is a collective story we've all agreed to believe in. It's a human-created technology for coordinating behavior, not some immutable law of nature.

The "money myth" is fragile. Currency derives its power not from inherent worth, but from collective belief.

When that belief shifts, entire economic realities can transform.

The Next Wave: Beyond Traditional Currency

We're witnessing the early stages of a fundamental reimagining of how we exchange value. The current financial system isn't a stable monument—it's more like a legacy software desperately needing an update.

Cryptocurrency represents something far more profound than just a new payment method. It's a philosophical experiment in reimagining value exchange.

Imagine economic coordination not as a top-down system, but as a dynamic network of micro-exchanges. Communities forming around shared purpose, transcending geographical boundaries, creating value in ways we're only beginning to understand.

The Real Promise of Crypto

Cryptocurrency's deepest potential isn't technological—it's human. It offers a way to return to a more nuanced understanding of value: that "money" is whatever enough people collectively decide it can be.

Our challenge is to shape this transformation. Not toward chaos, but toward a more flexible, inclusive way of understanding how we create and exchange value.

Currency has always been about connection—about how we recognize and reward contribution. As we move forward, we're not just changing how we pay for things. We're reimagining how we value each other.

The future of money is a conversation we're all part of. And we're just getting started.