It's been a good year for bitcoin investors but a terrible one for those who hoped that the cryptocurrency would become the de facto tender for the internet. Bitcoins creator, may be dismayed at what has become of the project, intended as peer-to-peer electronic cash that didn't require the supervision of banks. Instead, bitcoin has become an investment vehicle, embraced by many on Wall Street, an asset class like every other. For all the success of the blockchain and bitcoin's soaring value, it's clear that Nakamoto's original vision had sung the swan song.
Bitcoin is unsuitable as a currency, because people are far more likely to hold it in anticipation of it appreciating in price. Its volatility strips bitcoin of the characteristics needed "of a plausible substitute currency," making it instead a "speculative asset, a get-rich quick scheme." Stable values are required to encourage both commerce and investment, since people need to understand the value of what they're buying, and buying into.
Bitcoin was designed to be deflationary -- artificially limiting the supply of bitcoin to 21 million, forever. But there's a problem with using deflationary money to run an economy. The limited supply of Bitcoins will plunge our primitive economy into a recession, mirroring the Great Depression of the early 20th century. Hence, it is the best to consider bitcoin is an dynamic virtual asset rather than a currency.