A little over a week ago we attended the Midwestern Bitcoin Conference at Purdue University and gave a talk entitled “Why NOT Bitcoin?” The premise: to put one's self in the shoes of the critics and find the best arguments against crypto-currency, Bitcoin in particular.

We thought Bitcoin advocates and detractors alike might find something useful in it, so we've put it up in both Open Document format and in PDF.

[Bitcoin Logo and Question Mark]

So, Why Not? (The Cliff Notes Version)

We tried to pin down the most important and common reasons people might shy away from Bitcoin:

  • It is “virtual”, so has no cash form.
  • There is uncertainty about it's future/viability.
  • Acceptance is still relatively low.
  • Its inflation rate is not that great (yet).
  • “It's too volatile.” (Most popular!)

And, while we agree most of these are legitimate problems, what we found after further analysis is, at least four of those five critiques will tend to become less relevant in time:

  • The longer Bitcoin exists...
    • The lower its inflation rate will be (as it was designed as such).
    • The more uncertainty will tend to diminish.
  • And, the broader Bitcoin's adoption (as per the current trend)...
    • The easier it will be to find businesses that accept it.
    • The lower will tend to be the volatility. (This probably deserves a blog-post of its own.)

And that's the gist of it. Feel free to pass it along!