Alternative currencies, also called complementary currencies, are nothing new. The phenomenon goes back centuries―if not millenia. In 2004, their various shapes and forms were estimated at 4000.1
But this turned out to be a mere prelude.
In 2010, Slashdot churnalized a piece about a "network-based digital currency" with supposedly "no transaction fees"2 , called a "cryptocurrency", which propelled alternative currencies to unprecedented heights and hype. By 2019, when I first intervened, hundreds of more puff pieces had been written.
My first post about crhypeto would be far from sufficient to appease the madness. I ended up writing quite a few posts:
- 2019-06-25 - "Cryptocurrency": the pseudo-currency which no one understood or accepted, but which many bought
- 2019-12-15 - Bitcoin is Not Going To Zero, and more on blockchains
- 2021-01-03 - New Religion
- 2021-07-08 - Smooth summer bitcoindoctrination
- 2021-07-27 - Crhypeto propelling Malaysia and Argentina towards gold medals, squeezing every last bit out of Earth
- 2021-09-26 - What happens when an alternative currency becomes legal tender?
In the good old days, everything there was to know about crhypeto had been summarized exquisitely in a Venn diagram from the unfortunately defunct Buttcoin Foundation.3 But the rally of organized crime and the design of new scamming schemes―all while tremendous financial contagion pushed it closer to the white market―has changed the landscape. Not only is it still unclear whether Peak Crhypeto is over, but I've had to retract part of the above following the apparition of these dynamics:
- 2022-01-02 - Happy 20th anniversary, €? Oh, and mea culpa
In September 2023, Zeke Faux's book Number Go Up revealed that crhypetomania has created a new layer of victims enslaved into making their own victims in order to avoid torture and execution. While such highly organized crime is obviously reliant on misgoverned countries, the essential role which crhypeto plays in such schemes forces reassessing whether laissez-faire remains a viable/optimal approach.
Unfortunately, despite all of the misinformation now out there, reaction has been slow. There is still no central crhypeto debunking website or organization which can join everyone's efforts. If you are aware of a movement to collaborate on the development and distribution of open material debunking crhypeto, thanks for letting a comment below. However, I am thankfully not alone in my crusade. Countless renowned individuals have expressed their skepticism, but some of us have been leading the charge. Besides Zeke Faux:
- David Gerard was probably the first one to publish a book on the topic. His website also provides a lot of material.
- Dr Nicholas Weaver's research and lectures also depict the theme as bluntly as thoroughly.
- Molly White has been debunking crhypeto since 2022, notably in the freely-licensed Web3 is Going Just Great, which invites contributions from others.
- In 2022, technologists from the USA signed the Letter in Support of Responsible Fintech Policy.
- A Buttcoin/Crypto Reality Community for messaging was established on Discord in 2023.