Bitcoin – a symptom, not a panacea

Last month, it was widely reported that Twitter (US:TWTR) co-founder Jack Dorsey believes that some form of crypto-currency, probably Bitcoin itself, would overtake the dollar in importance to become the world’s primary medium of exchange in a decade or so, although he did concede, in an interview with The Times, that it “does not have the capabilities right now to become an effective currency”. Well, no viable currency would obviously oscillate 1,564 per cent in value (trough-to-peak) as Bitcoin managed over the past 12 months, but Mr Dorsey’s prediction that the internet will eventually utilise a single transnational currency did resonate with some e-commerce analysts, although probably not with anyone who lived through the Weimar Republic.