The cryptocurrency experts, who clearly didn’t see this coming, are blaming all sorts of temporary culprits — from jittery markets to “hard forks” (blockchain jargon for radical technical changes in a digital currency). But they’re kidding themselves. This is a long-term unraveling of all of the lies, exaggeration and populist fantasies that drove last year’s market mania.
Nothing on the Bitcoin label turned out to be in the bottle. As a means of payment, it is cumbersome, volatile and expensive. It has destroyed value rather than storing it. Its decentralized technology was sold to investors as being unique. It has been anything but.
Eulogy made by Lionel Laurent
