I keep reading the same claims for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and they all seem to ignore the same fundamental problems.

Problem one: the architecture isn’t designed to scale. Presently Bitcoin can handle up to 7 transactions per second but could be altered to handle 27 transactions per second. To put that into perspective, VISA handles 65,000 transactions per second and VISA isn’t that a big player in the scheme of things.

Problem two: cryptocurrencies aren’t stable, so it’s impossible to use them for real-world financial transactions even if anyone was willing to accept them. People don’t accept them because they aren’t stable because their value is due to “momentum investing” (aka an asset bubble). At least national currencies nominally are supported by that nation’s GDP; Bitcoin et al are supported by fickle investor sentiment. Not a great basis for any currency.

Problem three: governments can outlaw cryptocurrency at any time, rendering it illegal for domestic transactions. So if you can’t use it, and if its value is a function of flighty investor sentiment, it’s neither a mechanism of exchange nor a save haven for your retirement savings.

There are literally dozens of other similar problems with cryptocurrencies but the three here will suffice.

In short: there’s a world of difference between naive hype and real-world requirements.