2030, 12 years from now and a vision of hover boards, autonomous cars and robot butlers. Whatever your vision of the future holds, I expect it includes some sort of digital money or cryptocurrency . Thomas Frey, author and futuristic visionary predicts that 2030 will see a turning point for cryptocurrency, with cryptocurrency replacing national currencies. According to Time, Frey is set to outline his vision in a report to the Federal Reserve in September. In this report, he will discuss the efficiencies of cryptocurrency and expects that by 2030, 25% of the worlds currencies will be totally replaced by cryptocurrency.Dr James Canton of the Institute for Global Futures seconds Frey’s vision, stating that “The rise of cryptocurrencies over the past couple years represents the legitimization of a new asset class emerging alongside the traditional global economy”. It’s pretty hard to imagine not having a national currency, imagine going to the shop for a bottle of milk, arriving at the till and being presented with an array of cryptocurrency payment methods? It would turn a pretty benign shopping trip into a real investment opportunity, which currency should you use in order reduce the overall price of the milk? Whilst this vision of 2030 does offer a simple solution to regular paper money, I just can’t get my head around how consumers/shops will decide which cryptocurrency to use, is it up to the customer, or does the shop limit your options for you? What if you only have Bitcoin but the shop selling the milk only accepts Ethereum? Maybe over the next 12 years, I’ll have time to work it out. Dr Canton believes this uncertainty is part of the beauty of cryptocurrency, he says: “I see crypto investments similarly to how I see traditional investments in stocks and bonds, which go through cycles, while there is more volatility in cryptocurrencies , it’s a worthy area for people to experiment with their investment portfolios really carefully. ”Essentially, both Canton and Frey believe that the freedom cryptocurrencies can offer will be the driving force behind them chasing out national currencies, giving people true opportunities to purchase and invest in fine detail, allowing them to get the absolute best price for their milk, and, probably, the best price for their hover boards, autonomous cars and whatever else 2030 promises to bring.