I'm sure (or at least I hope), John Levine did not ask to be referred to as an "Ubernerd". Not to belittle Levine or his accomplishments or his nerd cred, but I

I'm sure (or at least I hope), John Levine did not ask to be referred to as an "Ubernerd". Not to belittle Levine or his accomplishments or his nerd cred, but I think this article tells us much more about Krugman's ability to differentiate technical genius from mere competence than anything useful about Bitcoin. Given the high level of nerdery representd by the people developing Bitcoin, I'm unlikely to be convinced of a negative outlook for Bitcoin on the basis of an "expert opinion" from any ubernerd that Krugman chooses to trot out. The Bitcoin ecosystem has enough nerd cred to withstand pretty much any argument other than, "here's an exploit that I have figured out" with proof of said exploit. I found Charles Stross' critique of Bitcoin far more convincing than anything I've read from Krugman. But, not on technical grounds; merely on ethical ones. I do actually worry that we may be replacing a horrible system that enforces and thrives on inequality with a possibly more extreme system that does the same thing (possibly with a few new players at the top). Regardless, Krugman is in way over his head on the technical aspects of Bitcoin and it shows. There has been much better technical criticism from actual nerds, including nerds who have worked on cryptocurrencies. I believe we are seeing one of Krugman's famous bits of shortsightedness, and I believe he is falling prey to the very type of bias he claims to be trying to avoid. Bitcoin has a lot going for it, whether you call it a "currency" or something else. I believe that it's impossible to predict how Bitcoin will play out, exactly, since we've never seen anything exactly like Bitcoin. I have some vague feelings, as well (like, I feel like it's likely Bitcoin will be replaced by some other cryptocurrency within a few years...for a variety of technical and social reasons). But, it's all just a hunch, and I'm unwilling to take the kind of stance Krugman is taking, which seems almost naive (certainly on technical issues, probably less so on economic issues) from my perspective.