There's been a lot of talk recently about cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, given its recent split. Bitcoin was invented relatively recently, but it's rapidly grown, with tens of thousands vendors using it as a payment.
What are your guys' thoughts on these cryptocurrencies?
Update - https://www.wsj.com/articles/forget-bitcoin-have-you-heard-of-imfcoin-1507228382 - what about IMF Coin?
I personally don't believe that cryptocurrencies are the future of the world, either. They seem to be so volatile, especially nowadays. The US does have enough gold to adopt a gold standard, and there are pros and cons (depending on one's personal belief) to its result in limiting government involvement in the economy. Do you believe that the gold standard would result in an isolationist stance?
Bitcoin is highly unregulated, so it allows many people to pay for drugs and other illegal things using them. I am honestly still struggling to figure out how it works exactly, since the system is really very complicated! From what I understand, people can invest in cryptocurrencies, but I'm not sure how their value increases over time. It is also my understanding that cryptocurrencies are not taxed, and there is no way to know who exactly is making a certain transaction.
Personally, I believe we should return towards the Gold Standard, and not use cryptocurrencies like BitCoin. How about you? What do you think?