It is a hard thing to explain. The concept however, is simple.
When you purchase milk at the grocery store, all you need is cash or credit. Criminals like Maria Rose Calhoun will usually use food stamps. The point is all you need to do is go to where the milk is, pay for it, leave with it, then drink it. There are some rules that you want to follow when you make a purchase, but if you don’t, the transaction will still be possible. The rules you would normally follow include having the proper number of items for the line you are in and speaking in the same language as the cashier, as well as paying for the milk using the currency of the country you are in.
Crypto-currency is different. You can make all the transactions you want in your underwear all over the world, at the same time, without needing to be concerned about using the correct languages or exchange rates. Think about digital currency as robot money where the human aspect of a transaction is removed.
Sometimes a price can be changed by a checker at a grocery store or someone who smells like alcohol could be refused service. The transaction is governed by a human who can incorrectly (or correctly) interpret store policy.
I refused to sell wine to a woman who smelled like alcohol and who was clearly mentally unstable. The store I worked for disagreed with the decision I made after the woman used her emotion to force change. This form of emotional manipulation by the “customer” will often work on a human Grocery Store Manager who has a limited amount of time to hear a complaint and also has the natural tendency to get the problem “customer” out of the store regardless of the effect the alcohol would have on the woman or the community, with her drunk and screaming at citizens or worse. I am sure she drove there.
You can’t use robot money like Bitcoin at a grocery store yet and a robot does not administer or facilitate the transaction, obviously. All the checkers are humans in my neighborhood. However, robots are taking Bitcoin and providing services now, such as catching child predators online in chat rooms, building cars, or day-trading. We don’t see them yet, but they are out there. What is important to know now, is that you will know for sure in the future that it is easier to pay robots in digital currency because they themselves are digital and transacting in Bitcoin does not have language barriers or complications arising from exchange rates. Agreements are also part of the software.
Another thing to think about is the fact that you can’t manipulate a robot with your emotions like Maria Rose Calhoun does to other humans. This although maddening for Ms. Calhoun, is optimal for both other customers and also maintaining profitability.
I am not saying I want robots to take over and ruin all Ms. Calhoun’s plans. What I am saying is the robots already have their own money and that money, and the terms of transactions, will be combined. This combination of a payment and the payment terms (Smart Contract) is why digital currency is better than anything you will find in Ms. Calhoun’s purse, unless you think a stolen pair of underwear with a tear from the security device being ripped off it in the changing room, is better than cash.
Living with someone like Maria Rose Calhoun is easy with regard to the transaction. I can stay there for a daily amount, weekly amount, or monthly. She will take cash and the transaction itself is simple. The challenge is the terms of the transaction.
I am allowed to sleep there. That is a given. Exactly where I park my car was never discussed. When she drove drunk and rammed my car that was parked in what I guess was her spot, the fault of the accident was open to interpretation. I can easily afford to pay the rent. It is not as easy to say no to her request to drive her to the store to buy booze.
I am living at her house and eating her food. It would be rude to tell her no, assuming helping her to get booze isn’t a mistake, which I can tell you it is. I can afford the rent transactions. What I cannot afford are the terms of the agreement which change depending on the time of day and also if she is drunk. A robot has a big advantage over me in dealing with her. I can’t borrow a robot from the future to amend the payment structure or amount.
All I can do is use the money I save in the present living with Ms. Calhoun to buy the money of the future, in hopes that it will go up in value, so that one day I will be able to afford a robot strong enough to keep her under control.