As a consumer you will (are?) likely only involved in a few economic Microsystems. If you break it down, you probably spend a lot of your money through the same companies as it is, so it’s not a far fetch to think that each of these companies will use a main coin or have their own coin in the long run. This is only going to amplify as more of our payment systems are consolidated under big monolith corporations. So while you may be involved in some economic Microsystems, I will be involved in others. Each having their own currency needs and only having to go in an out of some main coin.
For example take Apple - you have the App Store , iTunes, app purchases, Apple Pay, the new Apple Card and more I probably forgetting. As time goes on, it’s not far fetched to assume that you might rarely leave the Apple economic ecosystem or even need to since everything you have is provided by one corporation. This applies to Amazon, Facebook (not as embedded as Amazon or Apple but has ambitions to get there), and more. So the idea of there being an Amazon coin or an Apple coin, once things mature in the cryptocurrency industry, is not totally out to lunch.
The main issue is that people think in terms of USD. The prices on the page would still be USD. Every currency is talked about in terms of it's price in USD.
Why have the extra coins and conversions, as a consumer? Even if the companies want to use them like DerpCoin (see Hermitcraft), they will still have to take USD. So will they really ever gain sufficient usage to warrant the company time / people investment into supporting them?
I also suspect most people are involved in many more economic microsystems, which sounds like a business I transact with by another name.
There are hundreds of "official" currencies in the world today, is dealing with them a problem you deal with in your life?
I assume many people here travel (or did pre-covid) frequently and mostly don't even notice the currency that's being used when you swipe your credit card when making a purchase. The details such as whether the merchant gets USD, EUR, or GBP are abstracted away from you and all you care about is buying your souvenir and figuring out where to go next.
When abroad, prices are listed in the local currency, and I have to do some mental math, but yes the transaction does currency conversion automatically, with a fee that is typically higher than I would have realized if I swapped beforehand.
The point is, what currency will prices be listed in and do I have to jump through these mental hoops everywhere I buy things? Unlikely that most consumers will want this situation and extra layer. If it's listed in USD, why not just pay in USD and avoid the conversion stuff all together?
That is why a plethora of currencies will not pan out. It's not a out technology, it's about people's minds and behaviors.
Well worst case nothing changes and the prices are still listed in the same currencies they are today. But if crypto is even a little bit successful then perhaps the number of currencies used to display prices will reduce to a smaller number and make things simpler.
For the buyer they can use any currency they want transparently and for displaying prices things can only get better.
> Well worst case nothing changes and the prices are still listed in the same currencies they are today.
I would call this best case. There would need to be significant (likely unattainable) effort to change the standard. How many laws, signs, and code would need to be changed?
For example take Apple - you have the App Store , iTunes, app purchases, Apple Pay, the new Apple Card and more I probably forgetting. As time goes on, it’s not far fetched to assume that you might rarely leave the Apple economic ecosystem or even need to since everything you have is provided by one corporation. This applies to Amazon, Facebook (not as embedded as Amazon or Apple but has ambitions to get there), and more. So the idea of there being an Amazon coin or an Apple coin, once things mature in the cryptocurrency industry, is not totally out to lunch.