[2017-10-23] BS: Crypto-fool's gold?

Crypto-fool's gold?

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/crypto-fool-s-gold-117102301255_1.html

Is the cryptocurrency bitcoin the biggest bubble in the world today, or a great investment bet on the cutting edge of new-age financial technology? My best guess is that in the long run, the technology will thrive, but that the price of bitcoin will collapse.

If you haven’t been following the bitcoin story, its price is up 600 per cent over the past 12 months, and 1,600 per cent in the past 24 months. At over $4,200 (as of October 5), a single unit of the virtual currency is now worth more than three times an ounce of gold. Some bitcoin evangelists see it going far higher in the next few years.

What happens from here will depend a lot on how governments react. Will they tolerate anonymous payment systems that facilitate tax evasion and crime? Will they create digital currencies of their own? Another key question is how successfully bitcoin’s numerous “alt-coin” competitors can penetrate the market.