> There are also many people who recognize that it is not solving any real world problem, and that up to this point it has just operated as a giant speculative bubble.
Both parts of this statement are completely false. I’m unaware of any system which allows secure pseudonymous online global exchange between two parties without any trusted centralized third party. That seems to be a massive real world problem. Additionally Bitcoin is not a speculative bubble by any stretch, that accusation has been repeatedly been made since early days and with each cycle adoption and value increases, it’s a false accusation.
I don't see that problem as being massive. Our society depends on some amount of trust. In order to view this webpage, your browser put some trust in the certificate authority that verified the certificate of the hacker news servers. Sure, in some sense the idea of cryptocurrency is an interesting one, but the downsides are too massive to make it practical. By not trusting anyone, we end up in a situation of constantly trying to resolve a byzantine generals problem, which it turns out is massively inefficient and wasteful.
The fact that the price of bitcoin has gone up and down and up again doesn't disprove that it is a bubble. Bubbles don't have to follow a single boom and bust cycle. For example, I think that shares of GME stock are still much higher than the business fundamentals would suggest, due to the stock gaining a cult like following, so now the share price is driven by memes and dreams. In fact, as I argued before, I would say that there is no inherent value to bitcoin so that really only leaves speculation as the driver of the price.
Both parts of this statement are completely false. I’m unaware of any system which allows secure pseudonymous online global exchange between two parties without any trusted centralized third party. That seems to be a massive real world problem. Additionally Bitcoin is not a speculative bubble by any stretch, that accusation has been repeatedly been made since early days and with each cycle adoption and value increases, it’s a false accusation.