History of Monetary Systems & Crypto Currencies

Dating back thousands of years, money is undoubtedly one of humanity’s greatest inventions. Over the centuries, many civilizations have sought to optimize monetary systems in order to make them more efficient and better suited to the evolution of their empire and societies. More recently, at the beginning of the 21st century, a new innovation has emerged in this field of currencies, with the advent of cryptocurrencies. Some view them as a disruptive innovation in the world of exchange, while others see them as merely a speculative venture driven by individuals eager to make quick profits.

After explaining their origins and characteristics, and describing their ecosystem and how they function, this course will examine the extent to which cryptocurrencies are part of the continuum of innovations that have shaped our world since the dawn of history. We will review the challenges and opportunities they present and discuss the risks they pose to investors, merchants, and states alike, before taking stock of the very dynamic current landscape—driven in particular by the creativity of the actors operating in this universe. Finally, we will attempt to look ahead to several scenarios, challenges, and risks that cryptocurrencies may represent for monetary systems in the months and years to come.

Part 1: History of the monetary systems

• The first commercial exchanges

• • The principles of barter

  • Credit before money

  • From proto-currencies to the first monetary system

  • Gold as the benchmark of Value in monetary systems

• Major historical episodes of currency from antiquity to the present day

• • Antiquity

  • The dominance of paper money in monetary systems from the modern era to the 20th century

  • The rise of the dollar and the digital revolution from the second half of the 20th century onward

• Summary of the fundamental principles and usefulness of money

  • The components of a currency

  • Summary of the fundamental principles

  • Why was money invented?

Part 2: Crypto currencies

• The emergence of the crypto currencies

• • The turn of the 2000s

  • The DeFi of a new world

  • The birth of bitcoin

  • Overview of bitcoin adoption worldwide

• The cryptocurrency universe today

• • Overview of the main cryptocurrencies

  • The actors in cryptocurrencies

  • The diversification of crypto assets: Tokens, Basecoins, ETFs and ETPs

• Challenges, issues, opportunities & risks of crypto currencies in 2026

• •  What about a crypto used as a currency for exchange?

  • The regulation of crypto universes

  • The integration of crypto by American banks,

  • USA, world Head office of crypto currencies

  • When crypto meets AI, a futuristic projection

This course is intended for curious individuals who wish to understand the history of monetary development, as well as for those seeking to better understand the world of cryptocurrencies.

It is also aimed at finance professionals who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental elements that make up a monetary system, in order to better assess the “value” of different monetary and financial assets, and to better understand the world of cryptocurrencies, which may still be insufficiently understood within traditional finance.