Do you hide your money in your sock drawer?
So you have your bitcoin wallet and have it on your PC. But how can you guarantee that you your Bitcoins won't get lost when your PC crashes? What benefits can you get from having Bitcoins "sleeping" in your wallet? Presenting a new innovative way of handling your business without any risks. The Bitcoin Bank.
Going back to Italy, in the 14th century. Rich merchants required means of storing their wealth safely. Keeping your wealth in your home was risky, they needed a service that provided the means to store this wealth safely, they needed a bank. These banks were merely a convenient way of storing wealth. For modern banking we go forward to London, in the 17th century. Goldsmiths had secured vaults and started storing gold as a service for a fee. The goldsmiths issued receipts of the value and purity of the gold making it the beginning of banknotes.
Gradually these goldsmiths started lending out money for an interest fee, making it the start of modern banking.
Now with Bitcoin we can see a similar trend. Bitcoin was created as a decentralized currency, this however has it's flaws. Many of the coins get lost over time due to lost and damaged hardware or passwords that get forgotten [1]. Not only the safekeeping of your Bitcoins is the problem. Paying with Bitcoins can only be done from your wallet. So whenever you are away from your device with a Bitcoin wallet you can't make any payments. Nowadays Bitcoin is quite expensive having a value of 300 Euro/BTC. Having a decent amount of Bitcoins means having money "sleeping" in your wallet. With normal banking you gain a savings interest from the bank. But with Bitcoin becoming an accepted currency why shouldn't you get interest on the Bitcoins stored?
The Bank of the Future
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