[r32a_]

Bitcoin is a multi faceted beast like nothing else. It is a cross between computer science/cryptography, governance/game theory and economics.

In my opinion the economics of bitcoin is the core, which is kept in balance and managed with game theory and decentralised governance and it is created with computer science and cryptography.

In order to truly understand what Bitcoin is then you need to fully grasp all these 3 facets. Most people don't, they read the headlines or look at bitcoin from one of the facets and write it off.

[not2b]

It is a clever hack, but it can never work as money. The money supply needs to roughly match the size of the economy. If there is too much of it, you have inflation. If there is too little of it, you have deflation, which in many ways is worse. With Bitcoin you have too little of it, because the total amount is limited, and that limit is smaller than economic growth is. That's why Bitcoin's price as compared to major currencies has soared. But people who used Bitcoin years ago to buy pizza feel really stupid because if they had held on to it, they would be much wealthier today. When it works that way, it isn't money. It's a mathematically interesting investment vehicle, perhaps.

[semiotagonal]

In the absence of detailed understanding, it turns into a matter of trust.

Who will people trust more, banks and governments, or cryptocurrency nerds with untouchable money on the blockchain?

I think most people will opt for banks and governments, because when the going gets tough, the masses can overthrow them and expropriate from them. Cryptocurrencies put too many mathematical obstacles in the way of redistributing wealth against the owner's wishes.