Are you ready? Let’s go to some crazy theories.
The Rai stones became the forerunners of modern cryptoсurrencies and also pointed to the blockchain as a technology of the future.
Archaeologists argue that money in the form of turned stone boulders, the so-called Rai stones, acquire a new meaning when Bitcoin appeared. Now, discovered long ago finds of one of the earliest money in the history of mankind, can be interpreted as a prototype of Bitcoin, as the most famous cryptocurrency.
We are talking about stones, which in diameter reached 3.6 meters, were up to 33 centimeters thick and weighed up to four tons. The smallest “coins” in diameter were only 7-8 centimeters. Scott Fitzpatrick, an archaeologist at the University of Oregon, believes that such “coins,” used centuries ago as money, became a forerunner not only for modern crypto coins but also used the “implemented” principle of the blockchain. His opinion was supported by Kathryn Sampeck, an anthropologist from the University of Illinois.
The very process of selling and selling goods with the help of Rai stones was unlike how then such transactions began using gold coins, and later modern paper money. These stones, after their manufacture on the Micronesian islands of Palau and Guam, were transported to the Yap archipelago, and then they did not move anywhere – they were buried with earth, and the ownership of the “coins” was transferred in accordance with the arrangements. In this was a prototype of the blockchain, which was still manifested in the fact that the “coins” were on public view, that is, reminding themselves of a public distributed register. In addition, it is important that in contrast to gold, which later became the universal commodity equivalent, as well as paper money and metal coins, the production of Rai stones is fundamentally reminiscent of how modern cryptocurrency is being produced – the Rai stones manufacturing, as well as crypto coins, were decentralized.
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