Not so long ago the internet was a new and alien concept. Today, the world would collapse without it.

Today, cryptocurrency is a new and little-used concept. Tomorrow, will the world collapse without it?

We sit at the cusp of a revolution in global commerce, a shift that promises nothing less than to reshape the international economic and political order. At the heart of this revolution lies the groundbreaking technology of cryptocurrencies.

With the advent of bitcoin in 2008 the term ‘cryptocurrency’ crept into our lives. But whether bitcoin triumphs or fails, the technology it unleashed is here to stay and will only get stronger. It’s cheaper, faster, easier, more democratic and safer than paper money and credit cards, and people – and governments – are catching on fast.

Cryptocurrency is a vision of a radically different future. In examining the new and unstoppable revolution that is cryptocurrency it forces us to rethink our assumptions that underlie the world in its present form, to question what money is and how it functions in society, and to envisage how it could change our lives beyond recognition.

About the Author

PAUL VIGNA and MICHAEL CASEY are journalists at the Wall Street Journal. Michael Casey is a senior columnist covering global finance. Paul Vigna is a markets reporter, covering equities and the economy. Together they write the column ‘BitBeat’ for the Wall Street Journal’s MoneyBeat blog, a daily compendium of cryptocurrency news and analysis.