The “Local Pub” Metric For Cryptocurrency

For all the high falootin’ rhetoric surrounding cryptocurrencies, stories about “disruption” and “innovation”, and fiery declarations that cryptocurrencies can’t be regulated (or taxed), it is easy to lose sight of the most important metric:  can I do what I need to do with it?

This week we saw a brutal setback for the Bitcoin rush:  Nermin Hajdarbegovic reports at Coindesk that the only pub in Dublin that accepted Bitcoin has stopped taking Bitcoin.  It seems that money laundering isn’t legal, even at your local (who’s a thunk it?), and whether cryptocurrencies can be regulated or not, pubs certainly can.

If I can’t use it to buy beer in Dublin, then, frankly, what good is it?

The article notes that so-called Bitcoin ATMs face considerable legal resistance from many jurisdictions.  There are understandable reasons for this, as well as turf-protection by existing ATM rackets.

This is a really clear example of the end-to-end principle:  cryptocurrency can be the bee’s knees inside the digital world, but the whole enterprise can fall apart if you can’t get all the pieces right (and legal and secure), including the actual user interface.

I will write more in the future about Ripple and others who are tackling this who picture.  Notably, cryptocurrency qua cryptocurrency tends to fade into the background, and (human) networks stand out as critical.