Cryptoeconomics 101
It&#x27;d be cool to have digital cash, but I think we&#x27;re decades away.<p>Unfortunately, it seems that cryptocurrency enthusiasts focus more on the crypto than on the currency.  To be taken seriously, there need to be realistic approaches to things like monetary policy. The ungoverned money supply of cryptocurrencies seems to be touted as a feature, but AFAICT, it&#x27;s a fatal bug.<p>Think of the money supply as the denominator and total addressable value as the numerator; the goal with a stable currency is to keep the <i>ratio</i> constant over time (or as close as possible).<p>The fixed money supply of bitcoin is a joke.  If the currency were successful, bitcoin&#x27;s fixed supply (a constant denominator) wouldn&#x27;t keep up with global growth (a growing numerator), which would make the currency more valuable over time.  This would result in a deflationary spiral (no one spends the money b&#x2F;c they&#x27;re better off waiting and letting it appreciate, which leads to less spending, which leads to even more deflation, etc.)<p>The etherium money supply is said to be TBD, but why would anyone be optimistic?  Consider the layers of analysis underpinning the last Fed statement in May:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.federalreserve.gov&#x2F;monetarypolicy&#x2F;files&#x2F;monetary20170503a1.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.federalreserve.gov&#x2F;monetarypolicy&#x2F;files&#x2F;monetary...</a><p>A) political philosophy (for the Fed, the goal is to maximize employment and stabilize prices),
B) macroeconomic understanding (for example, the relationship between money supply and growth),
C) economic data collection (employment, prices, inventory, output, etc.)<p>That&#x27;s incomplete, but consider: how much of that kind of thing is even approached by any cryptocurrency community?  Does anyone think the same kind of extreme care taken by the Fed is going to be replicated?<p>When know-nothing articles like this one pass for news, well... let&#x27;s just say the emperor&#x27;s naked.