This is apropos of nothing in particular, but I have long wondered why libertarians who don't like "fiat currency" are such big fans of crypto-currencies. Bitcoin et. al. are the ultimate fiat currency. They don't represent anything other than a mass delusion of value.
Sure, crypto-currencies are not backed by any government like the dollar and other "real" currencies are. But if you have a beef with the U.S. government for moving off the gold standard because it made dollars less real when when it was no longer backed by a precious metal, why would a string of numbers stored on a computer be the solution to that problem? Bitcoin isn't backed by anything either. By that measure, it is less real than the dollar as the dollar, at least, is theoretically backed by the collective real estate of the United States.
Sure, crypto-currencies are not backed by any government like the dollar and other "real" currencies are. But if you have a beef with the U.S. government for moving off the gold standard because it made dollars less real when when it was no longer backed by a precious metal, why would a string of numbers stored on a computer be the solution to that problem? Bitcoin isn't backed by anything either. By that measure, it is less real than the dollar as the dollar, at least, is theoretically backed by the collective real estate of the United States.
