Bitcoin vs Blockchain

Let’s separate “bitcoin” from “blockchain.”

“Bitcoin” is a virtual currency. You can debate its stability, value as a commodity, energy drain or anything else. It was touted as “THE” virtual (crypto) currency of the future. Not in my future, though; I personally wouldn’t touch it.

“Blockchain” is a technology — a digital public ledger of transactions across a vast peer-to-peer network, that was viewed as a more secure method for financial transactions. It has some very positive features, but as we’ve learned, it also makes it too easy to abuse and leverage for criminal activities.

It’s fortunate that law enforcement (and even private enterprise) has become able to pierce the veil of secrecy that protected many criminals and their schemes — but it also underscores that if law enforcement can “break” its secrecy, so can bad actors (including foreign adversaries).

Blockchain may still have great value going forward… but as we’ve seen over and over again, it’s too easy to get excited about the hype, lest we discover (the hard way) that nothing is a “sure thing.”