Bitcoin still makes no sense

Bitcoin is a thneed.

The problem with Bitcoin and is that it creates real negative effects, with little positive effects to show for it.

The most prominent negative effect is the huge energy waste, which doesn't help when we are trying to cut on our carbon footprint

The second one is that it makes illegal activities easier, and at a larger scale. It's quite common right now for companies to be coerced pay millions of dollars to anonymous criminals, all enabled with cryptocurrencies.

Unless equally sized positive effects would emerge, it creates a growing pressure on governments to regulate and potentially criminalize the usage of cryptocurrencies. If that happens, the monetary value will naturally fall down.

Bitcoin is an asset the government simply cannot control. That’s the magic! Whether you think this is good or bad is for debate, but there are apps in every country where you can buy and hold bitcoin (even countries like Nigeria and Venezuela) and it doesn’t take that many people who value it globally to make BTC shoot up in price. If even 1 out of 1000 people on earth desired bitcoin, its value would go up and sustain it. So it doesn’t matter if 999 people dislike it - bitcoin (and crypto) is a niche that can grow much larger without much additional enthusiasm. And the fact it’s worth so much blows people’s minds, making it like a global phenomenon that markets itself every time it goes up.

No one makes you buy bitcoin! If you don’t like it, just ignore it. I could list many more arguments here as to why different sorts of people value it, from libertarians to drug dealers to hedge funds to people in countries that have terrible fiat currencies and corrupt central banks, but ultimately it’s a variation of the government not having control.

One final thought is that the term “currency” confuses a lot of people. Whether it can actually be used like a dollar is moot - it’s an asset that can be used sometimes like a currency, but being a true currency is not required for utility and value. It’s a misnomer.

> Bitcoin is an asset the government simply cannot control.

It certainly can, at least if you intend to exchange it for tangible goods or services, or if you convert it to a government currency. Why do you think these sorts of transactions cannot be regulated?

"with little positive effects to show for it"

It's an efficient store of value. Here is a dilemma - you have 10 million dollars. You need somewhere to park your money. Do you follow the Chinese businessman pattern and buy real estate in Toronto? That seems complicated - picking a property, being subject to the real estate market, etc. Often these houses sit empty, since you are on the topic of wasted resources.

Do you buy gold? Gold is as useless as Bitcoin, in terms of intrinsic value, your special snowflake "industrial applications" of coating McLaren F1 engines as a heatshield and superconductivity aside.

Buy stocks? How do you pick them? A financial advisor certainly won't do it properly for you. And the fed is pumping out USD.

Of course USD is going to deflate.

So, Bitcoin suddenly doesn't seem so useless.

"is the huge energy waste"

Gold takes a lot to store, secure, and transport. BTC replaces that with mining.

"The second one is that it makes illegal activities easier, and at a larger scale. It's quite common right now for companies to be coerced pay millions of dollars to anonymous criminals, all enabled with cryptocurrencies."

Every single transaction is on the chain. At this point they are worried that Monero is insecure. There are even conspiracy theorists saying that "the man" wants blockchain currencies as the norm due to the "nowhere to hide" policy.

And yes, you can create a wallet on some hotspot, and it is "anon". But let's be honest.

"Unless equally sized positive effects would emerge"

It's a secure place to park cash that doesn't deflate by nature.

edit: If you downvote, try to explain what you disagree with.