Recent discussions between WBC director Robert J. Marks and fellow engineers raise a question: Could new technology enable a global private currency to compete with government currencies? While the fact is not always evident in the Western world, government currencies depend on the stability of the government. Stories about people using discredited government banknotes to warm themselves, etc., are not fiction.
And today what about the unbanked billions of the world who work and create value but do not have access to financial institutions?
So in, for example, a national emergency, would cryptocurrency be any help? What about the The option of private electronic currency is comparatively new and, as we might expect, expert views differ. We present them for your reflection (not investment advice of any kind):
Gary Smith, Fletcher Jones Professor of Economics, Pomona College, says no, basically:
Bitcoin transactions are much slower and more expensive than debit cards, credit cards, Zelle, and the like. The only potential advantage is secrecy and that is far from guaranteed. In June 2022, a group of 26 prominent computer scientists wrote a letter to U.S. Congressional leaders stating that blockchain technology is “poorly suited for just about every purpose currently touted as a present or potential source of public benefit.”
Here’s the letter.
A recent book, The Coinmen: Bitcoin Exposed (2022) by cybersecurity expert Bob Seeman sets out this case: “Bitcoin is a confidence game with the excitement of gambling, the marketing incentivization of a pyramid scheme, and the fake profits of a Ponzi. At the same time, bitcoin has the legitimacy of trading but, with no regulatory oversight, it is manipulated.”
Computer geek and philosopher Eric Holloway offers a “step back and look at the big picture” approach along the same lines:
My general thought is that…
