Published
5 years ago on
August 03, 2018
“A man called John Casting took the initiative and began to list the prices of commodities, provisions and exchange rates, this list was published a few times a week and only for a few days at a time. Using this list, that was known as ‘the Course of the Exchange and other things’, the stock brokers could hold auctions. The auctions that they held only lasted for as long as a candle would burn and became known as ‘by the inch of candle’ auctions. The popularity of these auction soon grew, more stock brokers began to take part and new companies put their stocks and shares up for sale. Historians of this period have claimed that these meetings in the coffee houses were the first evidence of trading marketable securities in London.â€See more for yourself, here. Lessons learned in Jonathan’s Coffee-House, helped to establish a culture of stock sharing and trading, a culture that has obviously had a huge impact on the design and format of today’s cryptocurrency markets. I wonder if during the 1600’s anybody had ever discussed a decentralised currency, one that gave power back to the general population, away from those in control? As most of these meetings would take place with business owners and dignitaries, I very much doubt such a concept would have been discussed. It is very interesting to consider though isn’t it. There you have it, next time you have a brew, take a moment to think about it. A 1600 coffee house in London, could very well have inspired the crypto markets of today.
