A thought on bitcoin and the blockchain

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Bitcoin (and other crypto-currencies) have the potential to replace gold as a store of value that cannot be debased by government interventions and replace dollars (“hard currencies”) as a medium of exchange that cannot be regulated by governments.

The Blockchain (and other crypto-registries) has the potential to replace banks and other registries as a means of confirming ownership and method for transferring ownership. Just 10 days ago, the SEC declined to certify a bitcoin-based ETF, which sounded like bad news to some but not to others:

The ETF was denied because bitcoin can’t be regulated, can’t be surveilled.

Feature, not bug.

— Andreas (@aantonop) March 10, 2017

I have some money in bitcoin (market data), and I think they will only grow in value and importance in the coming years. With so many examples of poor economic governance, there is sure to be a huge demand from people in developing countries who are looking to secure their wealth from corruption and incompetence.

(I also say these things because some people are losing long-term perspective over short-term concerns over various programming choices. I think these will be resolved because $billions will be lost by failure to agree on fixes to known issues.)