The Knights Templar is an order from the medieval era whose purpose was to protect pilgrims and carrying out military operations on their way to Jerusalem. The reason pilgrims had to be protected was that at that time, on their travels, they were exposed to bad rivets and pirates, and they were most often killed. This could not continue, and the kings therefore established a monastic order which was trained in war and battle and was then called "The Knights Templar" (templars).
The templars gradually became a major power factor in southern Europe and managed a large fortune, including real estate and several church buildings. What not everyone knows is that an important activity for the templars was banking. There are several stories about pilgrims who delivered cash, silver, and gold coins to the templars in northern Europe and received a deposit receipt. When the pilgrims then set out on their journey to Jerusalem, they could collect the latter receipt from the templars in Jerusalem and receive similar value there. Thus, suddenly the pilgrims were not exposed to being robbed by bandits on the road. Point being an international transaction was made. However, this did not last for long, in 1312 King Philip did pressure the Pope; Clement V to dissolve the Templars. Many believe it was because the templars had denied Philip additional loans. After the templars was dissolved, tortured, and killed, it is thought that King Philip of England seized most of the Templar’s wealth. What a P****! It is good to know that he died the same year he dissolved the templars. For those who are interested in a more in-depth description- and history about the templars you can read more here.
But what relevance do the story of the Templars have for cryptocurrency, you might be wondering? In fact, it is very basic because at that time there was no central bank anywhere. The pilgrims gave their entire lives for the payment infrastructure to work, and the principle of decentralized and anonymity has something in common with Bitcoin. If you look at what the pilgrims brought back in the Medieval era it was not money, it was "tokens" that could be exchanged for money, i.e., the local currency in Jerusalem. Ultimately, it is the trust in the money that gives them value. The pilgrims had confidence in the Templars banking infrastructure and the receipt they were issued before the pilgrimage. We have lost much of our confidence in money of this day, precisely because we are starting to see stronger inflation here and there and the money are issued by the central banks. Crypto currencies have a certain freedom over itself and are not owned by some central banks and this is perhaps the main reason for the price increase and the mass adoption we are starting to see in time of writing. Or will perhaps the government kill crypto, as King Philip killed the templars?
Cheers
-Olebulls