Economist Paul Krugman says bitcoin is an unnecessary tool for commerce that is based on the misconceptions that central banks are printing too much money and that money is a tool that can be created free from messy human complications.
But I guess some people are just bothered by the notion that money is a human thing, and want the benefits of the monetary network without the social part. Sorry, it can’t be done.
So do we need a new form of money? I guess you could make that case if the money we actually have were misbehaving. But it isn’t. We have huge economic problems, but green pieces of paper are doing fine — and we should let them alone.
Bitcoin values have fluctuated wildly, and the virtual currency still faces challenges of acceptance. An interesting fact of bitcoin is that while it is touted for its anonymity, nevertheless, in order to complete an online transaction for a physical good, some information has to be exchanged for delivery of the product.
It remains to be seen whether bitcoin becomes a true alternative currency, or just in interesting experiment in how far people are willing to trust fiat currencies.
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