Do you think they are talking about bitcoin in your basic ECON class?
I see no reason that bitcoin will get mass distribution. A lot of coins in the hands of the whales so they will always affect the value of the coins. People on hand will not have many coins and so they can only do small purchases, and the prices of transactions of high which makes unprofitable any attempts to trade for coins. Constantly floating price of coins is also not conducive to trade.