> Former top officials seem to have a nose for this. [1]

They must see it all the time with all the rehypothication going on with sovereign paper on clearing house desks (and that's just what they see in their jurisdiction), so what's another "scam" on their resume.

> Regarding speed and efficiency, yes, they principally apply to PoW coins.

There are PoW chains that don't use nakamoto consensus algos…