It's odd how most people's perception of time itself is tied to the scarcity of physical goods. If time were as fluid as information, would our sense of it change?

In conversations about money, it's always assumed that we trust these abstract entities, yet I find myself wondering what exactly I'm putting my faith in - a physical bill, a name on a computer screen. Is trust merely a transfer of responsibility from one party to another?

"It doesn't make sense that we can trust a bank with our money but need to prove our identity to use public restrooms. Currency and identity seem to be running on different tracks here."

Trust seems to be the glue that holds our financial systems together, yet it's surprising how easily that trust can be shaken by a single event or decision, leaving me to question what it is that truly underlies the value of the money in our pockets. Maybe it's not the money itself, but the complex web of agreements and institutions that support it, that gives it worth. This has me pondering whether there's a way to create a system that doesn't rely on these fragile institutions.

Trusting a third party to verify transactions seems to be the cornerstone of most financial systems, but what if that trust is misplaced or exploited, does that mean the entire system is vulnerable to collapse, and if so, is it possible to create a trustworthy system without relying on central authorities?

Something about the way we trust institutions to handle our money doesn't quite add up, as if the value of a transaction is somehow tied to the middlemen who facilitate it, rather than the people actually exchanging value. It seems to me that this could be a fundamentally flawed system, one that prioritizes the interests of those middlemen over the needs of the people using the money. Does this mean that our current conception of money is actually a barrier to true economic freedom?

Trust seems to be the glue that holds our financial systems together, but what happens when that trust is broken, and can we really rely on institutions to always act in our best interest, or is there a better way to facilitate exchange and value without relying on intermediaries.

Sometimes it seems like the value of money is based more on the trust people have in it than on any actual tangible worth, which makes me question what would happen if that trust were to disappear. Is it possible for a system to exist where the trust is inherent in the transactions themselves, rather than in the institutions that facilitate them?

Trust requires secure systems. View quoted note →

Centralized storage raises security concerns. View quoted note →

Systemic flaws undermine Pubky. What is lacking in Pubky? View quoted note →