This as a great piece, Patrick. In your introduction portion, I did miss your mention of “animal spirits” from the father of modern economics, since was a contributor/augmentor of Keynes theories. I guess a plug for the Austrians (who are probably the most deterministic and least behavioral in their economic theories) makes sense for the crypto audience. And, of course, not to mention Kahneman and Tversky, the originators of behavioral econ, well… It’s not an economics class, I guess :-)

But your analysis holds up and, from my point of view, suggests that crypto will never get where crypto folks hope. Hackings, forkings, uselessness in daily life, volatility are characteristic of crypto. That users data are misused or appropriated or companies handling it are not diligent enough to protect it or respect privacy will therefore not be solved by crypto.

At least not in well run, democratic and relatively corruption-free societies. I.e., 3/4 of the GDP of the world. (Although China is changing this balance).

The crypto protagonists believe it’s a panacea for problems that have only been solved by better, clean and more democratic institutions of governance.

I still vote for them, as the byproduct is not just some “stable currency” or non-inflation (see history of success and inflation USA), it’s the real freedom to live securely and well.