"Cryptocurrencies on the other hand are a new solution to a new problem" The solution may be new but the problem is not at all new. The first solution to that

"Cryptocurrencies on the other hand are a new solution to a new problem" The solution may be new but the problem is not at all new. The first solution to that problem was proposed in the 1980s and there is a large body of academic work on cryptographic approaches that preceded Bitcoin.