What if money is not coins, paper bills, or even cryptocurrencies? This is the core question of this week's "Clear Crypto Podcast." In this episode, hosts Nathan Jeffay (from StarkWare) and Adrian Blust (from Tonal Media) engage in a conversation with Bill Maurer, the Dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, and a prominent financial anthropologist.

"I usually start with history, discussing case studies like ancient Mesopotamia," Maurer said.

He explained that before discussing blockchain or cryptocurrencies, he traces back to the origins of society and the eventual emergence of monetary systems. However, in the beginning, money was not tokens, coins, or bills, nor was it something that was "passed hand to hand."

He further explained:

"What they had was a complex record-keeping system." For Maurer, this is key to understanding ancient economies and today's digital currencies: "Money is essentially a way of recording credit and debt, which has always been its essence."

While Bitcoin (BTC) is often seen as a new form of digital cash, even hailed as the new "digital gold," Maurer questions this:

"Although the Bitcoin system recognizes that money is a record of transactions, it still clings to the notion that money takes a form similar to coins." Maurer sees this as a missed opportunity. "It could form a completely different relationship around data and value without having to abstract it into the concept of money," he said. "You could call it a right to a part of an ever-unfolding ledger."

The conversation also explored how blockchain reveals how humans organize trust. "We are relational beings, not individual beings," Maurer stated. "What blockchain promises is a way to create this framework, but at the same time, to do so in a decentralized manner."

Related: Blockchain can end the food fraud crisis, but it’s an expensive battle.

Original article: From Clay Tablets to Crypto: Rethinking Money in the Age of Blockchain

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