Updated February 2014
We all whine and complain about it but usually there isn’t much we can do about inflation. About our only choice is to vote with our feet, we can move our funds from one doomed currency to another. This is what the Forex industry is all about. The only other alternative to fiat currency is hard assets like gold.
As I’ve said many times, the value of our money is based on the supply and demand fundamentals. Right now the demand for U.S. dollars is falling and the supply is rising because the government has the ability to create them out of “thin air”. Based on basic Economics 101 this means that the value of the U.S. Dollar will continue to fall as long as the government has control of the printing presses. On the other hand, at the moment, the demand for gold is rising and the supply is relatively constant so the price of gold is rising. The major problem with gold is that it is difficult to use for day to day physical and electronic transactions. On the plus side, it is beyond the control of government.
Recently, some individuals have decided that the time is ripe to take the control of currency out of the hands of governments and put it into the sphere of private competition. The idea is to allow the free market to decide the value of the currency and eliminate the inflation risk of giving government a “blank check” to control currency supply at will. There is a company that is attacking this problem head on and trying a totally novel approach. This approach would have been totally impossible ten years ago but with the power of the Internet it has become feasible.
Basically what they are trying to create is an internet based currency similar to PayPal but that is not tied to any location, government or currency. This will free them from government control of the supply of the currency.
Their terms and conditions page states:
All account balances are held in PayBox currency. PayBox maintains a currency that is autonomous and independent of all nations and governments. The PayBox currency is denominated in dollars and cents (similar to the currency of the United States and over 20 other countries). The PayBox currency is currently in a closed system, and cannot be exchanged or spent. Before long we plan to open our currency to be spent and exchanged just as you can with any other currency. Our plans include person-to-person transactions (via the Internet and over cell phone text messages), integration with merchants and shopping cart systems, debit card transactions (through an issued debit card linked to your account), and more. The value of our currency is estimated to be close to that of the U.S. dollar. As is the case with any currency, once the PayBox currency becomes openly exchangeable, its value as weighted against other world currencies can and will fluctuate due to forces beyond our control.
Right now they need help working out the bugs in the system and are willing to “pay” for it. Just for opening an account with them you get $50 into your account. (Unlike Paypal you don’t need to give them any bank info at this point).
Then you can earn additional funds for doing tasks like answering surveys, beta testing transactions and getting others to join. At the moment that money isn’t real (can’t be spent outside their system) thus there is no need for them to have your bank info. But at some point in 2011 the money is supposed to become convertible into real money at some exchange rate chosen by the free market (just like other currencies).
So this is your opportunity to make some “money” and help them out with this possibly revolutionary system. Click the link below and open an account you will get $50 and I will get $5 for recommending you. Then you can earn PayBox money by by answering surveys, participating in test transfers, getting others to sign up and in general helping them work out the bugs in their system. You could end up with thousands of dollars by next year or it could all be for naught and everyone will end up with nothing. Having been one of PayPal’s early adopters, I am betting that PayBox has a shot at changing the world just like PayPal did and it should be fun, all you are risking is a little time…
Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to tell your Grandkids that you were in on the ground floor of creating a new currency and taking control of inflation out of the hands of big government!
Tim McMahon, Editor
InflationData.com
March 30, 2011 UpDate:
There has been a lot of chatter on the Internet these days that Paybox is a SCAM. Recently they changed their name to VirtaPay. And currently have no way for you to contact them. Certainly not a way to inspire confidence in your customers. Another issue is that they seem to have scrapped the alternative currency plan and are trying to compete with PayPal or perhaps with Virtual product vendor ClickBank. At one point they had an online store and people were selling 50,000 paybox dollars for $25. which was the first instance where real money was involved to my knowledge. My question is where would someone get 50,000 paybox dollars? Most people I knew may have collected a couple of thousand but not 50,000! So was the owner of PayBox printing them out of thin air? Hard to tell since transparency seems to be an issue. Anyway, it seems some caution is advised when it comes to Paybox or should I say VirtaPay.
February 2014 Update
Recently a new contender for the alternative currency has come on the scene and that is Bit coin. It has eliminated the transparency issues and limited production through a built in algorithm and the value has skyrocketed. Recently China has banned their banks from dealing in bit coins although some locations in the U.S. have legalized it. So the battle continues. Will bit coin become legal or will governments feel threatened and outlaw bit-coin? Only time will tell.
This is an interesting idea that may run into some regulatory troubles. If it is setup as an Offshore entity, then US citizens are limited in their foreign holdings. Additionally, they would have to find an extremely “friendly” offshore location that does not regulate receiving deposits from the public. Some offshore locations are looking the other way on the internet gambling issue, but they are under a lot of pressure.
On the “intellectual discussion” side you cannot overlook the moral hazard of the promoters of this project. What prevents them from “printing” money? In the discussion of overabundance of money supply many people overlook the ability of the fractional-reserve banks of “printing” electronic money. Unless you have a system of 100% reserves, banks are at risk.
I think I’ll stick to pushing for a return of the Gold Standard (which is about as idealistic as this idea. LOL)
PayBox sounds like an interesting idea but I wouldn’t trusrt them with my money
I agree that the one concern I have as well is that they would inflate their money supply to skim the cream off, just as governments worldwide do. And of course govenments aren’t going to be too happy with the competition and may try to stop it. At this point since there is no real money involved there is no risk. But whether they can actually get people to put up hard cash is another story. At the moment it is early beta perhaps as it progresses we will see how they handle these issues as they arrise.