Matt Levine: uncertainty

Transcript context

…Since almost every store issues gift certificates, and this seems to be a profitable activity, can we not imagine a future where almost every business issues cryptocurrency in some form? Maybe the velocity or volume will be low, but there’ll be a cryptocurrency for every business and an ICO, just like now we have gift certificates, and this is perfectly fine. We shouldn’t think it’s weird. The real question is why not more CryptoKitties? I’ve never heard of a CryptoDoggy. I’ve never heard of a CryptoTurtle. Yes, no? Do you want a CryptoDoggy? No store quintuples its market value by issuing gift certificates. The crypto frenzy is not . . . If this were a story of gift certificates, it would be a lot less interesting. If you say, “Look, it’s true that people don’t want a hundred currencies, but they use gift certificates,” I don’t know how much people use those gift certificates every day. If that’s the story, then I suppose it’s true, but that’s a sad outcome for the thousand cryptocurrencies if it’s just Starbucks accepts Starbucks tokens. Would you rather I give you a PonziCoin or a BananaCoin, a BananaCoin being connected to an organic bananas blockchain, drawing upon banana supply in Laos?…

Stored transcript either side of the excerpt. The highlighted words are the published quote; the surrounding text is unedited source, never generated.