Crypto-currencies are the embodiment of economic regression

American economist, Nobel laureate, as well as ardent cryptocurrency skeptic Paul Krugman once again criticized the cryptocurrency and its supporters.

Krugman, who previously called Bitcoin "evil", said that the cryptocurrencies are the embodiment of economic regression that discards the financial system for 300 years ago. According to him, in Bitcoin, he is confused by two things: transactional costs and "no binding".

As has already been noted, the history of the evolution of money is the way to unencumbered superfluous transactions complexities, which are represented today in the form of credit and debit cards, as well as other forms of digital payments.

Throughout the history of money, people have tried in every possible way to simplify transactions. At first, the natural exchange was replaced by gold and silver coins, which were heavy, demanded increased security and consumed a lot of resources for their production. Then came paper notes, which saved the financial system from most of the previous inconveniences, and greatly facilitated the process of making transactions. As a result, the world came to electronic payments, which reduced the consumption of resources in the production of money to a minimum, and transactions became instant.

Bitcoin, according to Krugman, returns this process to 300 years ago, as it reintroduces the obstacles associated with mining, which requires more and more resources.

"In other words, cryptocurrency enthusiasts are effectively celebrating the use of cutting-edge technology to set the monetary system back 300 years. Why would you want to do that? What problem does it solve? I have yet to see a clear answer to that question." - Krugman writes in his regular column for the New York Times.

Despite this, Krugman admits that governments very often abuse their privilege to issue money. However, traditional central banks cope with their tasks "quite tolerable", as they provide users with simple tools for making transactions and ensure a stable purchasing power. The base value of fiat money is set by the states, which subsequently are engaged in order to maintain their currency at the proper level.

In addition, Krugman believes that Bitcoin is a very convenient tool for engaging in criminal activities, including tax evasion. 

Source