In the coming years, that element will be run out of the system.
The “big” cryptos (Bitcoin, Etherium and the like) are fast becoming mainstreamed by the large investment companies. Companies like Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, and JPM are investing in cryptos and their infrastructure.
Why does this matter? Because those companies do not want to get in dutch with the government, their regulators, and big customers. This will drive out the dirt bags in favor of the “professional” business operators.
Crypto currency is moving from the Wild West to the “respectable” phase.
The argument about “the power going off” applies to just about everything in life. If the power really “goes off”, money—digital or physical—will drop in importance pretty damn fast. So, while that argument sounds reasonable—it proposes a situation that is not probably and which would require a complete paradigm shift. Even precious metals would be useless in a practical way until the shift was complete and a new economy was established.
But, different opinions make the world go around and they cause us to think about things.
Crypto is not the savior of the economic mess we are in. It will evolve over the coming years. But it causes us to think about what is going on. In the end, it comes down to whether or not you trust the government to manage your money, or whether you would like some input and control.
Having a small amount of freedom to manage one’s own money isn’t going to amount to a hill of beans when the economy just completely collapses. It might have been a great idea. But like a lot of things, cryptocurrency doesn’t really play well with reality. It’s not going to be there for you when you really need it. Like a lot of speculation, it’s great if you already have some money to burn and you can stand a loss. Reality is that most of us don’t have that much money to burn.