There are plenty of crypto non-believers, and they all seem to have very common complaints about the crypto space as a whole. Here are 5 of these complaints and responses to make them think.
- There is no intrinsic value.
"How can a digital computer code have value?" is a common complaint and it seems logical to people who don't really understand value or money in general. The thing is, Not much in this world really does have any value other than what we as people assign to it. FIAT money is paper backed by a government promise, Gold and other precious metals/stones are just shiny things we pulled out the ground etc. etc. - the only things that really have intrinsic value are food, water and family... everything else is man-made.
This brings me back to my point, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have as much value as any other type of money, if not more because they are backed by an intuitive progressive technology and the energy costs used to create them (for POW currencies).
- The price of crypto is pure speculation.
While true to a point, this is really a non-point. It's not really any different to the way traditional markets work including the housing market, where landlord buy houses looking to make a profit when the price rises above inflation (hopefully). Moreover, there isn't really such thing as the purchase of something that isn't speculative, buying a meal in a restaurant is essentially a bet that the food will be worth what you paid to eat it.
- It isn't used as money.
While partly true, it's still wrong. While not at the point of mass adoption, there are places where people can spend crypto and many people do on a daily basis. Some of these payments will be for questionable purposes through the deep web but there are also many legitimate transactions through crypto debit cards. In places like Venezuela people would far rather be paid in crypto than the hyperinflationary bolivar and people forget that it is still early in the development phase. Scaling solutions are in the process of being rolled out while certain altcoins designed as everyday currencies are progressing through development at a rapid pace. it's not much of a stretch of the imagination to imagine a time in the near future when crypto payments are just as convenient as FIAT transactions.
- Too many Blockchains.
Anyone can fork a blockchain. Anyone can create a coin. But it is the same with most other goods and services in an economy. Anyone can cook a meal, but that doesn’t mean that food is unnecessary. An argument can be made that there is no need for thousands of crypto tokens and I could argue that there is no reason that Nike makes 100 different types of trainers. What actually matters is that as long as the token or coin has a use case then there is a reason for it to exist. Its important to recognize that Blockchain is a technology, and while it has a major use case as a currency, this is not it's only purpose. It can be deployed in an infinite number of ways.
- Crypto Mining costs
While crypto mining costs are undoubtedly high, and some mining farms use more electricity than some countries, it is important to realise that no monetary system is without costs. Gold has to be mined from the ground and costs ridiculous amount of money per kg that is extracted; its part of the reason that Gold has such a high price.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are still in their infancy, and it is important to realise that there is still a long way to go in terms of development. Mining costs are necessary to secure the network and when blockchain proves to the world how secure it's network is nd the benefits it can bring, I doubt many people will complain about the costs associated with mining then.