Currency Denationalization

Current Situation

Hayek proposed the concept of currency denationalization in his work "Denationalization of Money," advocating the abolition of government monopoly on currency issuance and allowing private institutions to issue competitive currencies. This theory is based on the following core viewpoints: 1. Nature of Currency: Hayek believes that currency is essentially a commodity, and its value should be determined by market supply and demand, not by government regulation. 2. Competitive Mechanism: By allowing multiple private institutions to issue currency, market competition will promote these institutions to improve the quality and stability of currency, better meeting public needs. 3. Reducing Inflation: Hayek believes that government monopoly on currency often leads to inflation, while denationalization can control inflation through market mechanisms and maintain currency stability. 4. Personal Freedom: Denationalization helps protect individual economic freedom and reduces government intervention in personal economic activities.

Nowadays, with the development of digital currency and blockchain technology, the concept of currency denationalization has received new attention and practice. For example, the emergence of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is a challenge to traditional government monopoly currency issuance, embodying Hayek's ideas on denationalization.

However, these currencies are still purely credit-based, and credit naturally tends toward centralization. Currencies with low credit will be abandoned by the market, while those with high credit will be favored, eventually forming a situation of a few monopoly currencies.

Time Currency

The time economy believes that the key to the problem is that currency needs to be bound to a real asset to obtain its intrinsic value.

To achieve currency decentralization, this asset must be something everyone can create and cannot be deprived of the right to issue; labor time is the only asset that meets this requirement.

Compared to credit currency, time currency naturally has the characteristic of decentralization, because everyone can create time currency, truly realizing democratization and marketization of currency issuance.