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Comment by safgasCVS | Hacker News Reader

In science if a theory doesn't work in practice then the theory is wrong.

In economics if reality does not conform to theory then it's reality thats at fault

No I'm not saying bitcoin is the future but millions of users are freely choosing to use this system seems to count for nothing against some theoretical failings in Krugman's eyes.

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There aren't millions of users freely choosing to use this system. There are millions of speculators hoping that some day billions of users will freely choose to use this system and that <insert giant leap of logic> these particular instances of this system won't be replicated ad infinitum and somehow all economic activity on the planet will settle on these initial implementations.

I won't speak for all users but I've used it to accept payment for selling used stuff on gumtree (very handy for this). It's also very useful for sending money overseas which I've also done. I don't think I'm a special case which is why I wouldn't miss the forest for the speculators and dismiss the motivations of millions.

I also live in a country that wants to pursue land expropriation without compensation based on skin colour. Having a bank account that no one but me can access is quite appealing right now.

So I'm not using it to spite your worldview - it's been genuinely useful

> <insert giant leap of logic>

The justification is first mover advantage

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