This blog post makes a detailed and extraordinarily bearish argument against cryptocurrency:
He covers
~ The energy footprint of cryptocurrency
~ The purely speculative nature of cryptocurrency investments, calling it a ‘financial betting game’
~ As a result of this, the propensity of financially vulnerable people to invest in the hopes of a windfall, not unlike a lottery
~ Its increasing use as the currency in which ransom must be paid for hacks and other digital infrastructure attacks.
~ Related to this, its use in manipulating public funding of elections and, overseas, in evading sanctions
The writer makes the argument that in light of this, the US and its regulatory bodies should invest instead in upgrading their existing digital payments system, reducing the widespread use of cheques and cash.
Most interestingly for me, he understands the choke points of access to crypto: the points where fiat currency like USD is converted to cryptocurrency and back. It is these choke points that he suggests regulating closely.
There are counterarguments that have been made already to each of ̉his points, some strong, some not. Regardless, the post remains a strong, cogently argued bear case for crypto combined with a call for financial system digitisation.