The internet is thundering with dire warnings about how sketchy cryptocurrency ought not replace the trusty dollar. But the paranoia may be unfounded since on close examination, the difference disappears, according to Bill Tai (pictured), venture capitalist and board director at BitFury Group Ltd.

“They’re kind of the same thing,” Tai said. “It’s something that people believe in as the embodiment of value exchange, whatever it is. So if it’s a green piece of paper, if it’s not, if it’s a shell, if it’s pebble …”

A variety of currencies circulating simultaneously has typically been the norm, not the exception, according to Tai, a one-time securities analyst. People’s cleaving to the green paper U.S. dollar is a sign of historical amnesia, he stated.

Tai spoke with John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at the Polycon18 event in The Bahamas. They discussed the diverse notions of currency and where cryptocurrency fits among them.

The more exchange changes …

“There have always been multiple currencies all the time, and very rarely have they ever become … super dominating currencies,” Tai said.

The history of value exchange in the U.S. alone tracks a dizzying maze of different currency types. During the 1800’s, for instance, there were more than 200 different currencies circulating. The way that the colonists drew state lines and developed currencies for different territories mirrors Initial Coin Offerings in many ways, according to Tai.

What is the dollar itself? It used to refer to the gold standard; now it refers to the petro standard. The flux in the value that money represents is normal. In essence, currency is a belief in the value behind it, Tai explained.

“What is a Confederate dollar that was in Abraham Lincoln’s pocket? It’s a belief. So what is a share of Snapchat? It’s a belief,” Tai said. Any cryptocurrency token is, at bottom, a belief in value, he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Polycon18.

Photo: SiliconANGLE