As its industry faces a crisis, business writer Michael Hiltzik says cryptocurrency has no legitimate value in the real world and needs to be eradicated.

 

What we call the “crypto party” should never have started. Because in this party, there’s nothing being sold or promoted that is fundamentally worth anything.

They pitched cryptocurrencies as an alternative to government control – they said that these currencies can’t be manipulated. But these currencies can also not be protected or audited or tracked.

Now, there is more enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies than ever before. They are becoming “mainstream”.

Small, not so knowledgable, investors have been lured in. And they are the ones being taken to the woodshed in this meltdown. They bought at very high prices, and they are now dealing with very low prices. Some of them have lost their life savings.

I am angry at our regulators for letting this happen. I am angry at promoters for knowingly sucking people in. But I’m also angry at people who have been sucked in, because they should have been more careful with their assets.

Business columnist Michael Hiltzik explains why he thinks the cryptocurrency market is nothing but a rat hole for people to lose money in.