Zach Copley

Hiroshi MikitaniInfluencer

CEO, Rakuten Inc.Follow

The Digital Money AgeApr 7, 2015

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Money represented by paper and coin is on its way out. The era of digital

money is here.

Interestingly, the move to digital money is not being driven by big

companies and big governments. Instead, the push is coming from those

with less traditional power in financial circles. In some developing

countries, e-money is taking the role of standard currency and users are

moving away from traditional paper and coin. In the consumer-to-

consumer space, digital currencies are gaining acceptance and

popularity. Governments in developed countries, by contrast, are not as

eager to embrace the bitcoin and other digital monies. In my opinion,

this will be a losing position, since the Internet connects all of us and

trends rarely stay in one country.

This is an opportunity for e-commerce companies. For us at Rakuten, we

are one of a few companies that has created a very strong ecosystem

combining a variety of businesses such as financial services, media, and

e-commerce. The challenge to companies like ours is now to be creative

and come up with ways to help consumers and businesses engage in

digital commerce and take advantage of the benefits digital commerce

can offer.

The digital money trend will reach all around the globe, into every

aspect of commerce. Only closed economies will be immune to it. The

rest of the world will need to participate, or be left out of the commerce

system. There was a time in human history when coins came to replace

barter and when paper money came to stand in for coins. Today, we are

in the next evolution of money. Who will want to sit on the sidelines?