Pain but no gain

Whilst it is easy to “mourn” the loss of US$600bn in cryptocurrencies “value”, let’s pause there for a second.

All the money in the world is backed by nothing but “full faith and credit” of the government that issued that money. That’s why it’s called “fiat money”.

Cryptocurrencies are a form of money, but not “fiat” – as there is not even a lame government “promise” behind any of them (“stablecoin” is a different story altogether). Cryptocurrency is not a “legal tender” either – as you cannot pay your taxes with it.

To re-phrase those famous quotes about the Devil, the greatest trick Bitcoin ever pulled was to convince the world it did exist…

So, let’s rejoice as digital bits few people even begin to comprehend are still worth over US$200bn – to put things into perspective, that’s more that Top 10 global airlines combined, with all their planes, pilots, stewardesses, ground facilities and other tangible real assets.

No brain. Pain. No gain.