Creating the global currency in 7 steps
Today’s payment systems (payment cards, cash, wire transfers) are old and outdated, which means we’re all bearing unnecessary costs.
For example, open your wallet and count how many different cards you have, and how much cash you have to carry around. The technology already exists to replace your wallet with a fast and secure digital payment method.
Additionally, the current payment networks were designed decades ago and their usage causes inefficient processing, fraud and rigidity — all of which translate to high costs.
There are many advanced payment technologies and innovations waiting to be deployed.
Here are just a few examples: MFA methods to make payments more secure; AI to reduce fraud; one global currency to eliminate currency exchange fees; digital transactions to make transactions faster, safer, and cheaper. See more details about the improvements and innovations that a modernized payment system could offer.
So why don’t we already have newer, better systems? Because there’s a “chicken and egg” barrier — no buyer will join a new payment network with no sellers, and no seller will offer a new payment option that no buyer uses.
A payment system is only useful if it’s used by a significant number of both buyers and sellers. Getting to that critical mass of users is the challenge, as people will initially be reluctant to adopt the new payment system.
This barrier has historically been the reason that previous attempts to deploy new payment systems have had limited or no success, despite offering superior functionality.
If someone built a modern payment system that implemented these technologies and somehow got buyers and sellers to adopt it, this system would quickly become popular. It could eventually end up seeing 20 trillion dollars in transactions per year.
Payment cards already account for approximately $20 trillion in transactions. Once buyers and sellers have a better option than payment cards, they would naturally prefer it whenever possible, and it would eventually reach or exceed that level.
Now imagine this system created a dedicated global currency. Let’s call it Q. According to economic models, the value of all Qs would be several trillion dollars.
According to the equation of exchange in Economics, a currency’s value can be calculated using the amount of money in circulation and the frequency with which it is used (known as ”velocity of money”).
Thus, estimating $20 trillion in transactions, and using the global average velocity of money, would give all Qs in circulation a value of several trillion dollars. Read a detailed economic analysis, co-authored with Prof. Lawrence H. White, an expert in Monetary Theory.
Initiative Q is reserving this Q currency for people who join today — the earlier you join the more Q you can reserve!
The incentives to join start off very high and as Initiative Q is widely adopted and the likelihood of success increases, those incentives drop correspondingly. The current estimated future value is shown above.
Eventually, it is expected that there will be enough Q holders — potential buyers and sellers — to make joining Initiative Q rewarding enough without requiring extrinsic incentives. People will join simply because it’s a faster, cheaper and safer way to transact. See a detailed explanation here.
It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. As millions join, advanced payment technologies are deployed, the payment system becomes even more popular, the Q currency becomes valuable, and rewards given to early users reach their potential value.
Watch our explainer video or read our FAQs, Economic Model and The Q Payment Network papers.
Meet the economists
behind Initiative Q
Lawrence H. White
Professor of economics at George Mason University
Marc Rysman
Professor of economics at Boston University
William J. Luther
Assistant professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University
James Caton
Assistant professor of economics at North Dakota State University
Let’s make it happen
Simple
All you need to provide is your name and email address.
Together
Invite those you care about and reserve more Qs.
How to get invited
Joining Initiative Q is by invite only (see why)
Here are two simple ways to get invited:
Want to learn more?
Joining Initiative Q is by invite only (see why)
Here are two simple ways to get invited:
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