It’s in your gift cards and transit passes, and it’s starting to appear on your phone—but how far is it going to go?
“Decoding E-Money” is a travelling exhibition from the Bank of Canada Museum that explores the past, present and future of electronic money and electronic payment systems. It will be on display at Lethbridge, Alta.’s Galt Museum until Jan. 8. In addition to raising awareness of “e-money,” this exhibition helps visitors understand the possible effects of the widespread use of digital currency, which is but one form of electronic money.
“We have brought this travelling exhibit to Lethbridge with the hope to broaden the understanding of digital currencies by inviting users to experience this exhibition through a fun and compelling hands-on context,” said Galt Museum and Archives Curator Aimee Benoit.
Exploring the voyage of your dollars from purchase to deposit through various traditional and electronic payment systems, the exhibition teaches visitors about this revolutionary form of currency with cutting-edge graphics and interactive displays. The high-tech intricacies of Bitcoin and other web-based “crypto currencies” are also explored alongside more than 60 artifacts highlighting the way Canadians have spent their money over the course of 200 years. From trading tokens to the most recent precursors of today’s electronic money, these artifacts have challenged our notions of acceptance throughout history – similar to how Bitcoin challenges us today.
The exhibit includes games that allow players to understand and experiment with the philosophies and principles of various e-money transaction tools – from credit and debit cards to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. One of the aspects these games underline is the intense competition involved in verifying and completing digital transactions so they become permanent and unchangeably embedded in a public transaction record. The technology that enables this form of decentralized currency has the potential to bring fundamental change to existing financial systems and is of great interest to the Bank of Canada and other central banks.
“Decoding E-money is a timely exhibition that explores a function of modern society that is becoming ever more prevalent in our everyday lives,” added Benoit “We’re excited to explore this topic with our community.”
For more information, visit galtmuseum.com.