From bartering to bitcoin: A visual history of payments Part 1

Currency and commerce are two of the surest markers of an advanced civilization. Thousands of years ago, intrepid entrepreneurs toiled and traded their way to wealth by cultivating fields, casting weapons, and creating objects of value. Today, we can access and conduct global trade with a single click, sell digital products and services in online marketplaces, and put computers to work mining completely conceptual cryptocurrency to help us strike it rich.

In this two-part infographic series, we’ll take a journey from bartering to bitcoin (and beyond), examining how humankind has developed and interacted with payments technology over the years.

 

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