The College Fix

Is Bitcoin the currency of the future? Or is it, as a tech-industry friend of mine bluntly put it recently, “a scam”?

With the crisis in Crimea growing stale and bored by modern media standards–nothing new happening there except a full-scale invasion by the Russian military–the media was left searching for another, more interesting story to post at the top of the page.

Enter the reclusive Japanese-American living in Southern California who may or may not have founded the Bitcoin electronic currency–a currency that may or may not be worth anything 12 months from now.

Well, pardon my apathy, but it does seem that there are some people out there who care about Bitcoin. I mean they really care.

For example, a group of students a Duke has taken it upon themselves to promote Bitcoin via a series of special events and educational efforts.

“Duke students interested in Bitcoin technology are spearheading events to encourage others to get involved with the currency,” reports the Duke Chronicle. “Senior Jeremy Welch, among its supporters, noted how valuable the technology has the potential to be.”

“There is a very high underlying value with the Bitcoin system,” Welch said. “I am very bullish on the technology.”

Bet you 99-to-1 Mr. Welch has also invested in Bitcoin and is hoping a stratospheric increase in value for this crypto-currency will make him and other currency holders rich beyond comprehension.

Eleven years from now, we will all be looking back on this either as the time we could have become billionaires if only we’d thrown everything we had into Bitcoin. Or we will be looking back and shaking our heads in disbelief, saying, Remember when everyone was crazy about that thing called Bitcoin for a few months? How bizarre! Glad I didn’t throw my money away.

Probably the biggest single argument I’ve seen yet against taking Bitcoin seriously is the fact that the Winklevoss twins are heavily invested in it.

Winklevoss–you know those two Harvard twins who took Mark Zuckerberg to court claiming he stole the idea for Facebook from them? And then later settled for a payoff worth hundreds of millions in cash and stock?

Played by the two Ken Dolls in the movie The Social Network.

Those guys.

Well, good luck to all of you Bitcoin holders out there. But I get nervous anytime the masses greedily jump on board with a get-rich-quick scheme. Reminds me of the housing bubble, the tech stock bubble, and the Ponzi scheme a sous chef tried to sell me in on when I was waiting tables at a country club years ago.

I get nervous when hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the “currency of the future” can be swiped for a leading exchange company by anonymous hackers with a few computer keystrokes.

I get nervous when simply holding onto currency is viewed as a good way to make a fortune. Because it isn’t, or can’t be for long, or for very many.

Nathan Harden is editor of The College Fix and author of the book SEX & GOD AT YALE: Porn, Political Correctness, and a Good Education Gone Bad.

Follow Nathan on Twitter @NathanHarden

(Image by 401k2012)

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