The Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman says that this feverish enthusiasm is ill-informed and that a full-scale collapse of bitcoin BTCUSD, -4.83% is a real possibility, arguing that cryptocurrencies aren’t solving any problems in the current monetary system, which already boasts seamless and low-cost transactions.
Krugman says bitcoin lacks a backstop, or a tether. Fiat currencies, no matter how large the denomination, are a generally accepted means of payment to someone, and gold has traditional uses as jewelry and for filling teeth.
