Modern Economic Nonsense — Why Bitcoin Maximalism will fail

The idea of a digital currency that can be used for payments is a very compelling one. Financial inclusion has become a major focus of the developing world, and many companies are trying to solve the problem through digital currencies. The most well-known is probably bitcoin, but there are several altcoins as well. However, as with any new technology, there are two primary challenges: educating people about it and convincing them to adopt it. Educating people about digital currency is not so hard these days, thanks to things like podcasts and Youtube videos. It’s convincing them to adopt it that has proven to be the harder part — and the more important one as well. If you think about it, adopting new payment systems involves a lot of hassle for very little benefit. When you compare card networks where merchants have accounts in exchange for processing transactions on their behalf, or even cash where merchants don’t need any sort of account at all, it becomes pretty clear why adoption has been slow. However, when you compare these alternatives to cryptocurrencies, which offer total anonymity and make paying by phone or the internet much easier than paying with cash, adoption may seem more attractive. We’ll explore why digital currency adoption will fail without thinking outside the box and embracing some core concepts that are often overlooked.