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Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
The future of money: Kashyap Kompella on what's next for this pivotal invention
What is money? Economists begin with function. When code replaces coin, we are no longer redesigning currency. We are redesigning control, compliance and consequence. (HT Illustration: Puneet Kumar via Midjourney) Money, they say, does three things: it lets us exchange goods and services, acts as a standard measure of value, and it lets us store value. A kind of economic Swiss Army knife, remarkably adaptable and endlessly circulated. John Maynard Keynes saw money as a bridge between present and future. Milton Friedman warned that it could be a weapon in the wrong hands; that too much of it, too fast, would corrode a system. Hyman Minsky went deeper still: all money is a promise, he said, but not all promises are equal. Some come wrapped in the authority of the state, others in the credibility of a bank, still others in the brute fact of power. Today, a hundred-rupee note doesn't in fact represent a hundred rupees. It asks to be believed as such. What we call currency is a fiction wrapped in design: Microtext and hologram, watermark and thread, security and ceremony. We dress our illusions well. Where coins offered a kind of weight and direct value, and the early notes were backed by metal (often gold), stored somewhere, safe and tangible, most currency is now backed by the heft of its respective state. By inertia as well, in a sense. But really, in a world where money is mostly numbers drifting across invisible networks, what holds it up is our collective agreement. Consensus as collateral. Money is the most powerful fiction humans ever agreed to believe. (Scroll to the bottom for more on how this works, and how we got here.) The death of cash Is it accident that most money now doesn't even exist as paper? What does it mean that so much of the ritual and choreography around this asset is fading? There was a time when one went to the bank to update a passbook, and to an ATM to withdraw the notes. Money still had a place, a shape, a texture. More and more, today, it doesn't. Cash, we are told, is the past. It is eulogised in policy memos and start-up decks. Replaced by cleaner, smarter tools; contactless, compliant, optimistically frictionless. It persists, in temple donation boxes, in wedding envelopes, in the shadowy portions of real-estate payments. It lives in private safes, in the seams of sari blouses and under mattresses. It survives in the folds between trust and traceability. It neither asks its user's name nor logs their location. It holds no record of where it has been. But for how long? Secret gardens In the mythology of Silicon Valley, every system is just a feature waiting to be rebuilt: as faster, more frictionless, more easily monetisable. Money is no different. Here, the goal has become focused on erecting walled gardens to enclose wealth and spending. Capture the interface, own the flow. Build platforms that draw money in, and then design ways to keep it there. It's the Starbucks Rewards scheme, on a global scale. Already, expanding ecosystems of this kind have been built by Google, Apple, Amazon and others. For the user, the promise is a smooth, unified experience (and small benefits for staying with the walled garden). For the tech company, the potential is massive. If a salary is eventually disbursed onto a platform and spent within that platform, in tokens or credits or points, does it matter (to the owner of the platform) whose name is on each token as it changes hands? The real revolution, however, will be driven by those who have been carefully watching. Early experiments in these walled gardens have shown governments — ie, the powers that create, regulate and oversee the money actually driving it all — what is possible and what will be embraced. Which brings us to… Money with a mind Imagine a coin that knows what it's for. A welfare payment that refuses to be spent on alcohol. A currency that reports to headquarters, quietly, after every transaction. This isn't science-fiction. These are the traits or potential traits of central bank digital currencies. These are being rolled out as test cases around the world, in countries ranging from China and Nigeria to Jamaica and India. This is programmable money; essentially, money with a mind. If it becomes widespread, for the first time in history, standardised promissory notes will no longer be silent, disinterested participants in a transaction. Governments could target subsidies more precisely and monitor corruption in real time. They could also automate compliance. Economic policy could be deployed like code: live, granular, conditional. The implications, of course, are enormous. This kind of currency could serve as a direct tool of control. The lines between incentive and instruction, governance and surveillance, public and private, could blur. Programmable money would turn spending into a performance that is constantly logged and evaluated. Unlike cash, this money could also be remotely controlled. In one possible scenario, a dissident isn't placed under house arrest; their credits are simply erased. And compliance becomes a hushed imperative. Parallel tracks In a strange twist, cryptocurrency — born of rebellion against the absurdities of hyper-capitalist definitions of money, and the excessive control wielded by governments through it — laid the groundwork for money with a mind. Bitcoin, the world's first such currency, was born in 2008, in the wake of the global financial crisis. If so much of the world's money was fiction to begin with, and could simply evaporate because it had no true inherent value, then why could a new kind of currency not improve on this with ideas of its own (such as limited supply and far greater transparency), it argued. Bitcoin began to be 'mined' in 2009, generated as a fee or reward for using powerful computers to solve complex math problems. But hyper-capitalism claimed this revolution too. As it gained in value, it lost its claim to rebellion. Hype made it speculative and volatility made it impractical. What had been pitched as the people's money became one more asset class. As more cryptocurrencies emerged, creating, securing, and transferring value without state intervention or control, the empire took note. Governments began planning centralised digital currencies. (In a final signal that this particular revolution has been co-opted, American government agencies are now considering using Bitcoin-backed instruments to shore up and diversify pension-fund portfolios.) The future of us For years, the future of money has been framed as a contest of forms. Would cash survive? Would the dollar be dethroned? Would we eventually pay via thumbprints, retinal scans, barcodes embedded in skin? These are interesting questions, but not the most important ones. Because the deeper shift isn't about form. It is about access. In a world where money is programmable, traceable, and conditional, the critical questions will be: Who decides how it is used? And: Who will be watching, each time you swipe? Now, the old order had problems. It leaked, it excluded, it corroded and enabled hoarding, laundering and loopholes. The new order seeks to fix some of this. But what it fixes, it also redefines. We began by asking what money is. We end with something harder: How will it change us this time? Because money is never just money. It is infrastructure for belief. It is how a society encodes obligation. How it decides what counts, who counts, and on what terms value can be held, moved, withheld and erased. When code replaces the coin, when your account becomes your identity, we are no longer redesigning currency. We are redesigning control, compliance and consequence. Yes, cash may survive in the cracks. The dollar may hold its seat a while longer. Cryptocurrencies may mature. But these are surface questions. The deeper shift is this: money is fusing with code, and code is never a silent participant. What we are building is not just a new financial system. It is a new moral architecture. One where every choice — by government, by company and by user — carries the weight of a rule once debated in public. The future of money is not a question of coins vs notes vs ledgers. It is the future of trust. The future of access. The future of power. Which is to say: the future of us. (Kashyap Kompella is an industry analyst and author of two books on AI) . A TIMELINE: How our money came to be Coins have a long history that overlaps with ideas of barter, soft power and annexation. So, the story of money for money's sake really dates to the earliest forms of non-metal currency: standardised promissory notes. * 118 BCE: The Chinese empire takes its first steps towards lighter, more representative money by issuing tokens or promissory notes on leather. * 1000 CE: In Sichuan, as trade booms, strings of coins are becoming too bulky to haul around, so black-and-red mulberry-paper receipts begin to be used instead. Sixteen merchants are awarded the right to issue these, and the government ultimately takes over, issuing the world's first fixed-denomination banknotes. They are essentially backed by bullion; a trader needed to hand over strings of coins and take an equivalent note in return. These notes could then circulate until someone returned to the merchant-banker to claim the corresponding coins. Of course, soon enough the notes are doing the rounds without the coins themselves being moved at all — and money was born. A banknote dated 1287, with its printing wood plate, from Yuan dynasty China. (Wikimedia) * 1200s: Central and western Asia took to the concept readily. Fast-forward 200 years and the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan has helped spread paper money all the way to Persia. But the concept baffles Europe. Those reading about paper money in Marco Polo's travels think it so preposterous, they wonder if he's making it up. * 1294: The Persian city of Tabriz experiments with paper money of its own but issues too much of it, sending the trading port of Basra into financial ruin. * 1455: The Chinese goof up too. Their over-production of paper notes devalues their money. Paper money is eliminated at this point, and will not return for centuries. Currency reverts to metal. A treasure note from the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), China. (Wikimedia) * 1661: Dutch entrepreneur Johan Palmstruch, who founded the Stockholms Banco in collaboration with the Swedish government, introduces kreditivsedlar or credit notes. They come in set denominations, are watermarked, bear a date of issue, bank seal and eight banker signatures. They are a hit. But they issue too many too and the bank is liquidated. A 1666 banknote for 100 Swedish daler, issued by Stockholms Banco, signed by founder Johan Palmstruch. (Wikimedia) * 1694: England learns from Sweden and sets up the Bank of England to issue Pound Sterling notes to help fund a war with France. * 1700s: Banks are appearing across the colonies. Currency notes are circulated within banking regions. For the public, it is a convenient and safe way to move money around. For the banks, it creates wealth from thin air – banks are permitted to print as much as 1/3rd more notes than they have coins in reserve. * 1792: Following the end of the American War of Independence in 1783, the US dollar is declared the country's official currency. * 1700s to 1900s: Given how much of the world Great Britain controls, it is no surprise that the Pound Sterling is the default global currency. * 1944: World War 2 is devastating Britain. Its empire is shrinking at the same time. The US, meanwhile, is now the world's most stable economy. Amid acknowledgement that the Pound Sterling will need to be replaced as the world's reserve currency, 44 allied countries come together to sign the Bretton Woods agreement. It fixes a rate of exchange for all foreign currencies against the US dollar, with the US promising, in theory, to back every dollar transaction using its vast reserves of gold. (Interestingly, it has shored up much of this gold as a result of trade surpluses during the two world wars.) The gold-backed dollar remains relatively stable, allowing other countries to back their currencies with dollars rather than gold. In order to back a currency with dollars, of course, one must have dollars. This creates an entirely separate revenue stream for the United States, turning US treasury bonds into one of the most powerful debt instruments in the world. Governments buy the bonds on the promise that the US can swap them for dollars at any time. They then use the bonds (plus actual dollar reserves) to keep their economies stable. * 1971: US President Richard Nixon delinks the US dollar's representative value from the country's gold reserves. This is essentially a tacit admission that the economy has grown so large that there isn't enough gold in the world to back it with. Money as a social construct has entered a new phase. What does back the dollar now? Trust and goodwill, partly. As well as the understanding that US economy can generate enough revenue (through the direct sale of goods and services, and through taxes and debt) to keep the still-growing system from imploding. But perhaps the most powerful thing keeping currencies today from crumbling is the quiet social contract by which we all agree not to look directly at the numbers, so as not to see them for the mirage that they, sort of, are. Instead, our system is backed by the idea that as long as the wheel keeps turning, the wheel will keep turning. . WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS: How much of our money is 'real'? What does it really mean that most currency is no longer backed by gold? That isn't even really the question. The real question is: How much of our money is 'real'? And the answer is: It is impossible to say. For instance, let's say that you put ₹1 lakh in the bank. The bank uses it to issue a loan to a customer. That money is now in two places at once. The customer who took the loan uses it to buy things; the person he pays uses it again. The money is now in multiple places at once. And that's not even accounting for how much of the original ₹1 lakh was 'yours' to begin with. Anti-capitalists view this system as absurd, and it was partly as a mark of protest against this absurdity that Bitcoin was born. It was marketed as a fresh slate; anyone could get rich; there was no legacy wealth. Could it become the money of the future? It turned out, of course, to be simply another social construct, entangled with those that came before it: money, legislation, security, adoption, legitimacy. The idea of cryptocurrency has since become woven into the idea of centralised money. There has been periodic talk of post-money economies replacing the tangles of today. It is wholly unclear what they would look like, or what kind of world we would need to build in order for them to work. For the moment, then, money remains the most stable means of exchange, if not the most just or logical. Just as elections remain the most stable means of governing large populations. Could a change be coming? It almost certainly is. The story of money, of societies, of people, after all, is just an endless unfolding of old to new.
New York Post
16-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Starbucks finally reveals its ‘secret menu' with new app-exclusive drinks
Advertisement Good news for coffee lovers: Starbucks is now lifting the veil on its 'secret menu,' and no memorization is needed. The company announced on Monday that secret menu drinks are currently accessible on the Starbucks mobile app. '[The] Starbucks 'secret menu' has been a thing for years, but today, it's official,' the announcement read. 'Beginning July 14, Starbucks Rewards members can find the top Starbucks drink customizations in the Starbucks app.' Advertisement Starbucks also reported that the 'secret' drink offerings will be updated periodically, providing variety to regular customers. The app allows Starbucks Rewards members 'to easily order the featured, popular drink customizations at participating stores,' the company said. The new beverages are now listed in the 'offers' tab of the app, where they can be ordered quickly and simply, the company noted. 5 Good news for coffee lovers: Starbucks is now lifting the veil on its 'secret menu,' and no memorization is needed. REUTERS Advertisement 'Just select the drink and it'll be added to the cart with all the customizations already populated for a seamless ordering experience,' the release advised. Below are the four unique drinks that Starbucks has released. 'Cookies On Top' Starbucks said this indulgent coffee is cold brew-based and targeted toward 'cookies and cream lovers.' 5 Starbucks said this indulgent coffee is cold brew-based and targeted toward 'cookies and cream lovers.' Starbucks Advertisement 'Order a cold brew with two pumps of vanilla syrup, vanilla sweet cream cold foam, and cookie crumble topping,' the company said. 'Dragonfruit Glow-Up' This secret refresher is based on a lemonade drink; it combines three different fruit flavors topped off with cold foam. 5 The 'Dragonfruit Glow-Up' is based on a lemonade drink; it combines three different fruit flavors topped off with cold foam. Starbucks 'Elevate the mango dragonfruit lemonade refresher by adding peach juice blend, then have it blended and topped with vanilla sweet cream cold foam,' the Starbucks website said. 'Lemon, Tea & Pearls' This new drink is Starbucks' ode to bubble tea. 5 'Lemon, Tea, and Pearls' is Starbucks' ode to bubble tea. Starbucks 'Black tea and lemonade make a perfect pair — add an extra pop of flavor with raspberry-flavored popping pearls to take it to the next level,' the Seattle-based chain advised. 'Just Add White Mocha' 5 'Put a spin on the brown sugar oatmilk shaken espresso by adding white chocolate mocha sauce and topping it with vanilla sweet cream cold foam,' Starbucks said for this new drink. Starbucks Advertisement This dessert-inspired drink is the fourth of the new secret recipes launched this summer. 'Put a spin on the brown sugar oatmilk shaken espresso by adding white chocolate mocha sauce and topping it with vanilla sweet cream cold foam,' Starbucks said.
Hindustan Times
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Starbucks makes its 'secret menu' official with new $25K drink contest; Here's what's on it
Starbucks is bringing its once-hidden "secret menu" into the spotlight. The coffee giant announced that it will now showcase popular customer drink customizations directly in the Starbucks app, making it easier than ever for fans to order their favorite off-menu creations with just a tap. Starbucks introduces its secret menu in the app, allowing Rewards members to order custom drinks.(Representative Image: Unsplash) Also Read: Ellen DeGeneres' 3-word sharp reaction to Trump's warning to Rosie O'Donnell wows netizens: 'He loves to get schooled' Where to find Starbucks 'secret menu'? The company revealed that the idea was "inspired by the popular Starbucks Not-So-Secret Menu broadcast channel on Instagram." Come Monday, Starbucks Rewards users can unlock personalized drink creations right in the app's 'Offers' section. According to their press release, one customers select the drink of their choice, and it will be made with all the customizations at participating outlets, as reported by CBS8. In addition, the coffee house is also introducing a secret menu contest where employees and customers can submit their favourite drink customizations. The entries for the contest will be taken from July 14 to July 20, and all the submissions will be cut down to the Top 4 drinks. The four finalists will be featured on the Starbucks app from August 18 to August 25. Also Read: Did Princess Charlotte, Prince George get gift from Jannik Sinner? Wimbledon champ reveals what he asked little Royals List of first flavours to feature on Starbucks 'secret menu' in app Cookies on Top Starbucks describes the drink 'For cookies and cream lovers.' Those interested should 'order a Cold Brew with two pumps of vanilla syrup, Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam and cookie crumble topping.' Dragonfruit glow-up 'Elevate the Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher by adding peach juice blend, then have it blended and topped with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam,' suggests the company. Lemon, tea & pearls According to the coffee giant, 'Black tea and lemonade make a perfect pair — add an extra pop of flavor with raspberry-flavored popping pears to take it to the next level.' Just add white mocha 'Put a spin on the Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso by adding White Chocolate Mocha Sauce and topping it with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam,' states Starbucks.
CBS News
14-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Starbucks reveals "secret" menu in coffee chain's app. Here's what you'll find.
Starbucks' "secret" menu is no longer hidden from the public. The coffee chain on Monday introduced previously hidden offerings for Starbucks rewards members in its mobile app. The menu allows customers with rewards accounts to access drink combinations not listed on its regular menu. Starbucks is offering four new drinks via its app: Cookies on top; a dragonfruit "glow-up"; lemon, tea and popping "pearls"; and a white mocha shaken espresso. The move is part of CEO Brian Niccol's efforts to win back customers and revive Starbucks' brand. The promotion comes after the company in February simplified its menu offerings as it tries to improve customer service. To drum up interest in the secret menu, Starbucks is also hosting a contest, which runs from July 14 to July 20, for customers to submit and vote on their favorite customized beverages. "Submit your best Grande custom drink and we'll see how it stacks up based on taste, creativity and fan appeal," Starbucks said on its website. Winners are eligible for up to $25,000 in prize money. Starbucks last month also changed how its charges for drink add-ons like syrups and match powder, charging a flat fee of 80 cents for any combination of sauces and syrups, including additional pumps. Previously, customers could face different charges for different flavors. Niccol is trying to boost Starbucks' growth by streamlining operations and making ordering and paying for drinks more transparent and straightforward. As part of that effort, the company said earlier this year it would lay off 1,500 workers.
Economic Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Starbucks' 'secret menu' added to app with $25,000 reward for next viral drink. How can you earn it?
Synopsis Starbucks' 'secret menu' : Starbucks is launching an all-new feature in its app that'll make ordering that off-menu or 'secret' drink all the more easier. The coffee giant is also launching a "secret menu contest" to submit your own favorite beverage customizations, with the winner getting $25,000. Here's how you can earn it Reuters Starbucks is embracing the concept and making it a reality, offering $25,000 in a drink-making competition Starbucks is making its "secret menu" official and is turning it into a nationwide contest with a cash prize. The Seattle-based coffee giant just added its secret menu to its app, and you can get $25,000 for creating the chain's next viral drink in a move to woo customers and reverse declining an official statement, Starbucks said it is making its 'secret menu' official. However, to unlock the menu, the user will have to download the Starbucks app and look under the 'offers' has added an initial four new drinks: Cookies and Cream, an upgraded Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher, Popping Pearl Tea, and a White Mocha Shaken Espresso, adding that more are coming on the way. ALSO READ: Conor McGregor's romantic encounter with woman on Florida beach, sparks speculation online. Who is he? From Monday, Starbucks Rewards members can browse a selection of custom drink creations inspired by customer hacks and social media trends in the app's "Offers" tab. The company said with one tap, a pre-built custom drink is added to the cart with all modifications preloaded. Starbucks' 'secret menu' serves as a model for other chains, which have gradually adopted the trend of customization. Starbucks is also running the "Secret Menu Contest" Monday through July 20. Customers and employees can submit their drink customizations at The entries will be narrowed down to four final beverage customizations, and public voting will be held on Starbucks Instagram Aug. 18-20. The finalists' creations will be featured on the app from Aug. 18-25. Each finalist wins $5,000, and the fan-voted grand prize winner gets an additional $25,000. ALSO READ: XRP price alert: Analyst sees massive 60% rally incoming. What is XRP and how can you buy it? Starbucks is embracing the concept and making it a reality, offering $25,000 in a drink-making competition. Employees and visitors can submit their favorite off-menu combination to the Secret Menu competition runs from July 14 to July 20, and four finalists will be selected in August. Each will receive $5,000 and a spot on the official Starbucks app. But it will be down to an Instagram poll to decide the winner, and the person who walks away with the $25,000 grand prize. FAQs: What is Starbucks' secret menu contest? Starbucks' secret menu contest is a nationwide competition where customers and employees can submit their drink customizations for a chance to win cash prizes. How much money can be won in the Starbucks secret menu contest? The grand prize winner can win $25,000, and each of the four finalists will receive $5,000.
