There's a lot of posts here questioning the utility of cryptocurrency when we already have cash. I sometimes ask myself the same question, as none of my day-to

There's a lot of posts here questioning the utility of cryptocurrency when we already have cash. I sometimes ask myself the same question, as none of my day-to-day transactions would benefit from cryptocurrency (or even offer it as an option). But I'm a cantankerous old man who just goes to the grocery store and gas station, not some malleable young whipper-snapper shaping the future, for better or worse, with what I participate in. However, I recently listened to a Reply-All episode [1] where a young girl casually received $100 in bitcoin from an anonymous individual mid-episode, a sort of restitution for having her account stolen, while corresponding with the thief on discord. It took practically no time, and gave me some pause to consider how this might be a glimpse of the future. The exchange could have been done through PayPal or something else with less anonymity, but it wasn't, they used bitcoin. Perhaps it was staged, perhaps she was primed to have a coinbase account already by the show hosts knowing this would happen, I don't know. If it was an authentically candid situation, it would be somewhat remarkable that she was already prepared to accept the payment with zero friction other than asking "It's super long, right?" when asked for her bitcoin address. So clearly there's already utility/convenience for some people today, and the fact that this group includes youngsters could mean it's just be a matter of their becoming mature adults continuing to use cryptocurrency before it takes over in a big way. Here's the excerpt from the transcript for the curious and lazy: ----8<----8<----8<----8<----- ALEX: And then (clears throat) he was like, “Look, do you have a bitcoin account?” And she was like, “Yeah.” KEVIN: I sold the Snapchat for 100 so I’ll just send that directly back to you. So um, you can do whatever you want with that since it is rightfully yours. ALEX: Lizzie, do you have your Bitcoin account number handy? LIZZIE: Yeah. ALEX: Do you want to drop it into– KEVIN: Yeah, let me– LIZZIE: It’s super long, right? KEVIN: Yeah, yeah, yeah no. Post it. Yeah, yeah. It starts, uh, it’s usually with a three. You have coinbase, right? LIZZIE: Yeah. KEVIN: Yeah, let me boot up my ledger. Okay. [typing] Alright I sent it. LIZZIE: Yup. KEVIN: Got it? LIZZIE: Yeah, thank you. KEVIN: Cool. Yeah, of course. Yeah you can do whatever you want with that. If you wanted to donate it, go for it. And if you want to keep it and buy groceries go for it. LIZZIE: Awesome. ----8<----8<----8<----8<----- [1] https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/130-lizard https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/130-lizard [1.mp3] https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8967905844.mp3?updated=1541657837 https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8967905844.mp3?updated=15416...