In short, tangible money is insecure, inconvenient, easy to fake, and impractical for digital payments. Middleman-mediated money, or M3, solves these problems, but introduces problems of fees, lack of accessibility, and a different form of insecurity. Right now, we have to pick our poison.

Currently, the web is monetized mostly by either ads or subscriptions (or by companies offering you free stuff and then selling your data). Over the years, there have been various attempts to switch to a system of micropayments. But despite a few limited successes (e.g. buying one song from a music service), these attempts have generally failed. An... See more