Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2018, when Bitcoin had fallen about 70% from its December 2017 peak near 20,000 dollars. It later rose far above that level, and the author’s view that Bitcoin had missed its chance as a means of payment reflects 2018.
Sometimes I like to set seriousness aside and have some fun with our usual subject matter. And Bitcoin gives me plenty of material for that. I had nothing to say about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies that I had not already said in previous articles. But many people keep asking my opinion about this cryptocurrency, which has gone from a high of 20,000 dollars to a 70% fall in less than 2 months.
As you will understand, I cannot take very seriously something that, for me, is nothing more than a product of speculation. Something with no value and no value proposition, fed only by the urge to speculate and the desire to make quick money from trading.
But why not imagine a world where Bitcoin achieved the utopia many want for a seemingly free world?
I must say that Bitcoin has had its chance to show that it can be taken seriously as a form of payment. In my view, it has not taken that chance. Some say cryptocurrencies could help reduce inequality in the world, and in theory that could be the case in certain countries where people are losing their money because of high inflation and government restrictions.
See also: Would we use a sharp fall in Bitcoin as a chance to buy?
But the truth is that, however hard I try to see advantages in this kind of cryptocurrency, I am sorry, I cannot take it seriously.
That said, I did once make an objective comparison between Bitcoin and gold, analysing it from a professional and sensible point of view. And in this other article we tried to work out the target price of a bitcoin.
Featured image: Zach Copley, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
