William J. Luther: “Americans Don’t Care About New Forms of Money and Won’t use Bitcoin”

Quite a few “experts’ have predicted the end of bitcoin over the past few years. In every single case, these predictions have not come true. In fact, bitcoin has only grown stronger as more time progresses.William J. Luther stated how the US Dollar will not be threatened by bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. In fact, he strongly believes bitcoin will eventually die out.

“No One Cares About Bitcoin”

It has been a rather often heard sentiment of how no one seemingly cares about bitcoin by any means. Consumers do not care about using some new form of money, which means bitcoin has no chance to survive in the long run. Those are the sentiments of William J. Luther, a renowned economist who seems to be rather narrow-minded when it comes to the world of digital payments.

While it is evident the average US consumers will not ditch the dollar anytime soon, that does not mean other forms of money will not become successful in the long run. What is rather peculiar is how  Luther is one of those individuals who feels blockchain technology has a bright future, even though it will not be an open-sourced blockchain such as the one being used in bitcoin right now. So far, no private blockchain has had any impact on the world, and it is doubtful that will change anytime soon.

To be more precise, Luther feels blockchain technology will be used to process dollar transactions. It would be quite interesting to see how such a system will work, as it is highly unlikely one can keep such a system going without some form of proof-of-work system. Banks will not embrace a system they cannot control. Assuming banks were ever to use blockchain technology, it would be a private blockchain, rendering the entire concept of additional transparency entirely moot.

Interestingly enough, Luther still thinks bitcoin may have a chance of succeeding in specific regions. Venezuela, for example, is going through a lot of financial turmoil right now. Replacing the Bolivar with bitcoin is a possibility. Whether or not such a  decision would be viable, remains to be seen. Moreover, the government wouldn’t be able to control bitcoin, which makes it virtually impossible to see a future where BTC becomes the national currency of Venezuela.

Luther continued his talk by touting how bitcoin could be overtaken by other digital currencies in the end. It is not the first time an economist echoes such statements either, albeit there is some truth to that statement. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency of its kind that can shake up the financial sector, but it is far from perfect. Whether or not that means a competing cryptocurrency will succeed where bitcoin may eventually fail, remains to be seen. In the end, this is another speech claiming how bitcoin has no future. It is evident economists still struggle with the concept of bitcoin and the free market, but only time will tell who is right.

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