Why Bitcoin is Here to Stay, Whether Governments Like It or Not.

Over at the Washington Examiner, Reason
columnist and Mercatus
Center economist Veronique de Rugy has an interesting
column up about Bitcoin and why predictions of the decentralized
currency’s demise are grossly exaggerated.

Bitcoin as a “currency” may never be as popular as the dollar
but no matter what happens, the technology it created isn’t going
anywhere. Think about it as the Napster of the payment industry.
The original Napster program isn’t around anymore but its
innovations fundamentally changed the music industry. As the
Washington Post’s Tim Lee rightly notes, Bitcoin is both a
decentralized payment system and an alternative currency, combining
into a ground-breaking “platform for financial innovation.” So no
matter what happens to the trading value of my purchase after this
crash, as long as Bitcoin — or a competing technology — provides
an affordable payment system to those who need it, there is a lot
to celebrate.

Read the whole thing.

Back in June, Reason TV’s Tracy Oppenheimer talked with Jon
Holmquist, who runs Bitcoinstore.com, about the real-world uses of
this virtual currency. Take a look:

More Reason on
Bitcoin.