Bitcoin (et al) have been havens for speculators and criminals, and little else.
Given the massive risk, fraud, and unregulated nonsense that's going on, I'll assert it's time to seriously evaluate shutting them down.
Nicholas Weaver made no bones about it: he really, really dislikes cryptocurrencies.
Speaking at the Enigma security conference in Burlingame, California, last week, the researcher at UC Berkeley's International Computer Science Institute characterized bitcoin and its many follow-on digital currencies as energy-sucking leeches with no redeeming qualities. Their chief, if not only, function, he said, is to fund ransomware campaigns, online drug bazaars, and other criminal enterprises.
Meanwhile, Weaver said, there's no basis for the promises that cryptocurrencies' decentralized structure and blockchain basis will fundamentally transform commerce or economics. That means the sky-high valuations spawned by those false promises are completely unjustified. He also said investors' irrational exuberance just adds to the unviability of cryptocurrency.
More at
Fire (and lots of it): Berkeley researcher on the only way to fix cryptocurrency
And this jaw-dropping story of $137 million basically disappearing because one person vanished (he died or absconded to India and faked his death):
A cryptocurrency exchange in Canada has lost control of at least $137 million of its customers’ assets following the sudden death of its founder, who was the only person known to have access to the offline wallet that stored the digital coins. British Columbia-based QuadrigaCX is unable to access most or all of another $53 million because it’s tied up in disputes with third parties.
The dramatic misstep was reported in a sworn affidavit that was obtained by CoinDesk. The affidavit was filed Thursday by Jennifer Robertson, widow of QuadrigaCX’s sole director and officer Gerry Cotten. Robertson testified that Cotten died of Crohn’s disease in India in December at the age of 30.
...
Robertson testified that Cotten stored the cold wallet on an encrypted laptop that only he could decrypt.
More at
Digital exchange loses $137 million as founder takes passwords to the grave
Certainly fraud and mismanagement is nothing new, but that begs the cost/benefit question. Are cryptocurrencies worth trying to save?
Enough is enough. I for one am getting tired of extortion requests showing up daily in my inbox demanding payment in Bitcoin. If there was a good use for it, I'd write it off as a cost-of-doing-business. But ... there's no good reason for them!
Btw, my background: 45 years of Arpanet/Internet use and a masters in Computer Science. I'm not a Luddite just pissed at the technology.
