War On Cryptocurrencies [LWN.net]

War On Cryptocurrencies

Posted Jan 12, 2018 8:59 UTC (Fri) by Garak (guest, #99377)
In reply to: Underestimate blockchain at your peril by nix
Parent article: Welcome to 2018

>Traditional fiat currency is not going to become obsolete, but it has clearly begun to lose market share to bitcoin/litecoin/etherium/dogecoin/etc.

In the most fundamental sense, "what can you buy in a market with it", this is clearly nonsense. Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, are not usable as a currency

The news stories keep suggesting the opposite of what you are saying. I admit, I haven't started using it yet. But it sure sounds like other people have. And with the total market value of bitcoins at $240 *Billion* USD? I was a skeptic for a long time as well. I still expect major events, like the NSA or KGB deciding they want to hork the leading cryptocurrencies, and succeeding, because they can. But even if that happens, or just a panic crash, I can't look at the history up to this point and have the same kind of sentiment you do. One could have rattled off a similar litany of criticisms of Linux as and OS in 2000. It was a young OS, and there were many legitimate and broad problems with it. But people with imagination, and understanding of FOSS crowdsourced engineering could *correctly* see beyond the naysayers. As a concept, a FOSS OS has thrived despite historical litanies of issues. After watching bitcoin's (and litecoin, and etherium, and dogecoin's) trading value chart over the last 5 years, I think it's very clear that your sentiment is completely off the mark. Cryptocurrencies are here to stay. The main issue I see is not technical- all these problems will be solved relatively easily over the coming years. But rather political. I vaguely recall a headline/story about Russia outlawing bitcoin in some form, but saying that there will be a government managed cryptocurrency. This itself is a fascinating aspect of the mid-term future, as far as noting different country's prohibitions on cryptocurrency, or other technology. And I don't think Russia's War On Bitcoin will be any less ridiculous to watch than the decades old War On Cannabis.

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