Many of the problems with private/decentralized currencies in the past – problems that motivated the state monopoly and regulations – are no longer relevant, wi

Many of the problems with private/decentralized currencies in the past – problems that motivated the state monopoly and regulations – are no longer relevant, with modern technology. The global network, encryption, and transparent open-source governance render obsolete lots of the old concerns. Also, while regulations and state monopolies always have an surface rationale based on solving actual problems, sometimes the real reason they're put in place, or maintained even as circumstances change, is because they benefit certain narrow entrenched interests. We owe older regulatory arrangements some respect, for the effort that went into their initial crafting and their longevity across eras where (whatever other problems we have) we've survived and thrived beyond the past. (I agree with the "Chesterton's Fence" principle: don't take down a fence until you know why it was put up.) But we shouldn't fear that old regulations and traditions are the only thing protecting us from 'horrors' of the past. The world has changed, some old risks are obsoleted by new levels of understanding and wealth, while all-new risks have arrived – including many created by the privileges and inflexibility of older 'solutions'.