The way we trade now is very different from the likes of ancient Egypt but not so different from Lydia and ancient Greece.

In terms of physical currency anyway...

Lydia was the first to ever use a coin as currency amongst the kingdom which later spread to ancient Greece! Egypt used gold bars with standardized weights amongst its city's.

Not much has changed, even these ancient empires/kingdoms had treasury's that dealt with this. In the 18th century BC, there are records of loans made by the priests of the temple. The beginning of banking in very primitive forms. All that has changed now is data and how many services they provide which is expected due to the evolution of technology and the growth of the human race. 

 We are talking 3rd and 7th BC so that's quite a distance in terms of time. The Chinese were first to really issue paper notes for big amounts and long-distance trading well before anywhere in the western world.. That was the 7th century again so if you think about that, the Chinese were using paper notes for a medium of exchange when the Greeks where only just starting to use coins. The Chinese have always been ahead of the west in terms of currency, Oil knowledge, and mining.

It wasn't until late 11th century that Europe started to adopt the idea of paper currency and the reason being that the first paper mill opened around that same time too, so really this system was born thousands of years ago and it's just evolved into what it is today but still carrying that original mission.

Just now there are a few more missions added to that system, as we have gone from a medium of exchange to a worthless currency that literally crumbles and takes the system with it, just by people refusing to use it. I say this because the currency we have today, that is widely accepted amongst a nation is completely built on debt and has lost at least 80% of its value since creation.

 I know for a fact that since 1968 the GBP has done nothing but depreciate all the way down just like the dollar for the last 100 years. Everybody accepts it, yes and that's fine but a lot of people save this fiat and have pensions that rely on it and to me this is crazy, its been proven time and time again that it doesn't work and the only reason it does work is that the government makes it that way. 

Everything that's involved in the system such as the retail industry and so on all complies with the government thus meaning we have to adapt to their demands if we want to use their services and use the currency they choose for acceptable payment.

Generally, they have always been since resonance Europe called promise to pay on demand or would have the words pay on demand, or the bearer meaning somebody else could, later on, redeem it.

I'm going to keep this one short and save you the details on how we now have complex banking systems and institutional systems that sneakily move money plus manipulate markets like precious metals and certain stocks. Over the last 5 decades alone there have been countless scandals amongst banks and governments and i doubt corruption is a new thing amongst government and alike, i just think that it has evolved from what it was back in the ancient and feudal times to now survive in the modern era. Where we get the illusion of choice which makes us think we are free to decide how to live our own life's, that's true for people who live amongst nature and are miles away from any government but if you live in a city or built-up area you would of or will find out why i call it an illusion of choice.

Then not too long ago debit payments and credit cards turned up, meaning no more paper currency it just has to be "stored" in your bank.. There's a reason for this but I'm positive I've gone over the reason behind the bank wanting you to leave your fiat with them which then came card payment fees and more interest plus debt and more people who can't really afford the debt which creates that vicious cycle if they don't pay the monthly payments they get into to debt if they do then they need to borrow again which is brilliant for the company's supplying the credit.

Then Bitcoin appeared and didn't really get much attention i suppose you could say not until 2016/2017 and it boomed so much it blew up! People really sat up and took note when Bitcoin and the alt market hit its all-time highs for sure as we have seen nothing but growth in terms of ICO and networks looking to branch out with blockchain into every industry!

At first, people thought it was more of a fad and that there would never be a use case for it as nobody had ever heard of it and nobody apart from a few understood it. As always people are stubborn and generally not interested in things that will be the future until they are the future, sadly they miss all the early boom and general involvement of advancing threw the stages to take over.

Back to the point of currency, we now have a secure (depending on storage and use). Always make that number one priority! transparent and efficient transactions, it takes power from authority and gives it back to the individual plus giving the owner an opportunity to take part in more than just currency with the interaction of Dapps.

Unlike fiat this currency brings with it, the potential to grow and evolve its self! With fiat, everybody eventually ended up saying it will go digital but nobody ever said we will have a digital currency that can birth other currency which creates decentralized applications that can then either tackle real-world issues or create opportunity for anybody who can get online to make wealth for their self, while the owner being completely responsible for their funds.

Thank you for reading.