The Messy Political Story of Bitcoin | Bloomberg

Also see A Year After the Crypto Bubble Burst, Will Bitcoin Ever Recover? | Bloomberg

"Techno-utopia is also messy. Code is better at enforcing rules than setting them. An arcane feud over whether to expand the size of transaction blocks in 2017 created an entirely new version of Bitcoin, called Bitcoin Cash. That in turn went through a second nasty split earlier this year. None of that is encouraging for anyone who needs a currency to reliably pay for groceries and rent.

Talk of Bitcoin as a tool to liberate residents of countries with authoritarian leaders or unstable currencies ignores the obvious control these same leaders have over internet infrastructure. And the idea that crypto makes wealth open to all looks less tenable as the bubble bursts. Regulators are still uncovering frauds; 56 percent of crypto startups fail within four months of selling coins, says a Boston College study; and newcomers have lost money while some early insiders are estimated to be billionaires. Assault people’s pocketbooks at your peril."

The Messy Political Story of Bitcoin | Bloomberg