Tru Dat

Whatever Else Is Claimed about It, Crypto Is Not a Currency

— Funding the Future

I've been saying this for years.

The root of currency is current, and "Cryptocurrencys," have enormous transaction fees and transaction delays.

They are in no way current: 

Cryptocurrencies aren't currencies. That needs explanation, of course.

I'm worried about crypto. I don't believe in it. I should lay my cards straight on the table because the whole of the crypto market seems to me to be devoid of any meaning, content, purpose, or value. But let me explain why these things are most definitely not currencies.

A currency is used as a medium of exchange between willing participants in a marketplace. I suspect the amount of crypto so-called currency that has been used for this purpose in proportion to the total crypto, whatever you call it, that exists is absolutely minute. Cryptocurrencies are not used for trading.

What I can say for certain, though, are two things. One is that they are not created by a government. And the only way that you can be sure that what you offer in exchange for something else has value is if it is offered by a government who has backed it up with a promise to pay, as is true of almost all the world's major currencies.

And secondly, this money cannot be used to pay tax in almost any country in the world, and therefore it lacks that aspect of being a currency as well.

As an FYI, the idea that origins of money come from government requiring taxes, and not a development from a barter economy, is called "Chartalism".

As an additional data point, there is no archeology evidence of any transition from a barter economy, but there is lots of archeological evidence for chartalism.

Crypto is simply gambling.