To become widely adopted, bitcoin and other alt-coins must overcome competition from existing, government-sponsored currencies and reduce the costs for consumers to switch to new payment systems. Until these challenges are met, digital currencies will likely persist only as niche monies or substitutes for very weak currencies.
William J. Luther is an Associate Professor of Economics at Florida Atlantic University and the Director of the Sound Money Project at the American Institute for Economic Research.
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Other Independent Review articles by William J. Luther
Fall 2020 The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It)
Spring 2018 The Curse of Cash: How Large-Denomination Bills Aid Crime and Tax Evasion and Constrain Monetary Policy
Winter 2013/14 The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order