It is a new application, but I'm not sold on it at all. I don't see anything that cryptocurrencies do that fiat currencies do not do better. Irreversible tran

It is a new application, but I'm not sold on it at all. I don't see anything that cryptocurrencies do that fiat currencies do not do better. Irreversible transactions, for example, is touted as a benefit, but I believe is a major disadvantage. As a result of them, consumer protections against theft and fraud are impossible to implement. Any reverse payment requires the cooperation of the fraudulent actor. Furthermore, the decentralized nature of bitcoin cannot last indefinitely, and arguably has already ended. All mining nodes need to have a record of all balances, in order to verify that incoming transactions are valid. This places a limit on the ability to contribute to trust by mining, and will result in further centralization of miners. If a cryptocurrency were to replace fiat currency, it would not be a change from centralized currency to decentralized. Rather, it would be a from a centralized currency controlled by an elected government to a centralized currency controlled by conglomerations of miners. I have done my best to understand their use, their applications, and their limits. With that in mind, I believe cryptocurrencies to be a obfuscated form of pyramid scheme, with additional externalities of heavy power use.