What is "currency"?
Currency is simply a medium of exchange. It allows people to store value in a symbolic way without having to carry around bulky or awkward items of actual value.
For example, many cultures throughout history have valued gold, silver, jewels, etc. But, today most of us don't carry these items around to make payments. Why not? Gold and silver are heavy. Jewels usually cannot be split up into smaller amounts. In general, these items are very impractical for use as a medium of exchange.
Instead of these historic forms of payment, people have invented the idea of stored value that is symbolic. For example, look at a U.S. Dollar or Euro. These are printed on paper and are not really worth anything other than the cost of the paper and ink. The metals used in the coins are worth far less than the face value stamped on the coin. The value is completely symbolic.
There was a time when currencies were backed by precious metals. But ever since 1971, not one major currency in the world is backed by any physical item of value. If you would like to learn more about this, just look up "fiat money" with your favorite search engine.
For example, many cultures throughout history have valued gold, silver, jewels, etc. But, today most of us don't carry these items around to make payments. Why not? Gold and silver are heavy. Jewels usually cannot be split up into smaller amounts. In general, these items are very impractical for use as a medium of exchange.
Instead of these historic forms of payment, people have invented the idea of stored value that is symbolic. For example, look at a U.S. Dollar or Euro. These are printed on paper and are not really worth anything other than the cost of the paper and ink. The metals used in the coins are worth far less than the face value stamped on the coin. The value is completely symbolic.
There was a time when currencies were backed by precious metals. But ever since 1971, not one major currency in the world is backed by any physical item of value. If you would like to learn more about this, just look up "fiat money" with your favorite search engine.
What is "virtual" currency?
Virtual currency is currency that exists in electronic form. It is not physical, such as printed paper money or minted coins.
Just as humanity has moved away from currency backed by precious metals, we are also steadily moving to completely electronic currencies. Most national currencies today are "hybrid" currencies that exist in both physical and electronic form.
If current trends continue, it won't be too long until physical currencies are not used at all. Some people are already there. Today, many people go through life without using physical money at all. They move their money around electronically, with credit cards, debit cards and even make electronic payments to pay all of their bills and debts.
Just as humanity has moved away from currency backed by precious metals, we are also steadily moving to completely electronic currencies. Most national currencies today are "hybrid" currencies that exist in both physical and electronic form.
If current trends continue, it won't be too long until physical currencies are not used at all. Some people are already there. Today, many people go through life without using physical money at all. They move their money around electronically, with credit cards, debit cards and even make electronic payments to pay all of their bills and debts.
What is VirtaPay?
VirtaPay operates a virtual currency and payment processing service for that currency. Person-to-person payments are now working. Sending payments to Facebook friends is now working. We are testing the sale and delivery of digital goods sold with VP$. We have many new features planned for VirtaPay.
What is it worth? How can I use it?
Like most major currencies, our currency is not backed by precious metals or any physical item of value. It is a symbolic value store and its worth is determined by our users, as is the case with nearly every currency used in the world today.
We are now testing the sale and delivery of digital products sold using the VirtaPay virtual currency. As a VirtaPay user, you can use your VirtaPay balance to buy digital goods posted by sellers. You can also list your own digital goods for sale.
The buying and selling of digital goods with your VirtaPay balance will allow you to easily earn other world currencies as well. We will soon have a tutorial explaining how this works. This tutorial will come with the addition of exciting new features that will allow you to earn regular money (i.e. U.S. Dollars) to your existing bank account for sharing VirtaPay and/or selling high-quality digital goods on the VirtaPay website.
We are now testing the sale and delivery of digital products sold using the VirtaPay virtual currency. As a VirtaPay user, you can use your VirtaPay balance to buy digital goods posted by sellers. You can also list your own digital goods for sale.
The buying and selling of digital goods with your VirtaPay balance will allow you to easily earn other world currencies as well. We will soon have a tutorial explaining how this works. This tutorial will come with the addition of exciting new features that will allow you to earn regular money (i.e. U.S. Dollars) to your existing bank account for sharing VirtaPay and/or selling high-quality digital goods on the VirtaPay website.
