MattL1 Cryptocurrencies are just glorified, decentralized ledgers for keeping track of who owes what to whom.  They are good for keeping long records, and (as it turns out) bad for keeping transactions secret.  The ledgers, to be useful in the real world, therefore, must correspond to some object that represents some exchange of money for goods and services. However, as it is predominantly used, cryptocurrencies are only used to trade for other cryptocurrencies in a chase to sell at a higher level for a cash equivalent that can be used in a Different Ledger to exchange for goods and services. This means, they only have Magic Thinking Value, as the author pens. As that thinking breaks, the value drops.It seems true that if everyone, all at once, just decided to use cryptocurrencies, then we could pay for an ice cream cone at a cart in Central Park with some cryptocoin. But no one trusts it even remotely that closely, and no one is truly working to get to such an end.Therefore, anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who thinks of cryptocurrencies as an "investment" is a complete and utter fool, and has already gleefully accepted an invitation into the pantheon of idiots fleeced by the P.T. Barnums of the world. If you try to game the system and make money at it, then you're likely just as sad, lonely, and delusional as a pensioner plunking quarters into a slot machine in a cruise ship casino.

MattL1 Cryptocurrencies are just glorified, decentralized ledgers for keeping track of who owes what to whom.  They are good for keeping long records, and (as it turns out) bad for keeping transactions secret.  The ledgers, to be useful in the real world, therefore, must correspond to some object that represents some exchange of money for goods and services. However, as it is predominantly used, cryptocurrencies are only used to trade for other cryptocurrencies in a chase to sell at a higher level for a cash equivalent that can be used in a Different Ledger to exchange for goods and services. This means, they only have Magic Thinking Value, as the author pens. As that thinking breaks, the value drops.It seems true that if everyone, all at once, just decided to use cryptocurrencies, then we could pay for an ice cream cone at a cart in Central Park with some cryptocoin. But no one trusts it even remotely that closely, and no one is truly working to get to such an end.Therefore, anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who thinks of cryptocurrencies as an "investment" is a complete and utter fool, and has already gleefully accepted an invitation into the pantheon of idiots fleeced by the P.T. Barnums of the world. If you try to game the system and make money at it, then you're likely just as sad, lonely, and delusional as a pensioner plunking quarters into a slot machine in a cruise ship casino.

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