It’s not just crises of currencies. It’s crises of governance—across the globe—through currencies’ displacement or substitution. It’s not the disappearance of physical currencies. It’s the appearance of virtual ones that are tougher to trace and almost impossible to monitor and regulate. Bitcoin, and other crypto-currencies, fall into this category. Given their secrecy and lack of transparency, they can hold governments’ monetary, financial and economic policies to ransom. They can be used at will by mafia, terrorists, underworld, black marketers, smugglers and dope peddlers. Money can not only be hidden, but it can vanish too. Existing currencies can be attacked to undermine nation states. Democracy, economic freedom and globalization, as we know, are at risk. The 21st century wars will be fought in the virtual world—through the nanosecond computer wireless and fiber networks. Bitcoin, and its crypto-competitors, are ideally placed to wage secretive and covert battles decimate economies and bring governments down to their knees. Even large corporates, like Reliance Jio are reportedly entering the market. Alam Srinivas reports