I have followed, studied, and written about cryptocurrency for quite a while before the value run-up of the last few years. With people clamoring for information and potentially putting their real money into nebulous online currencies, I wrote this lengthy article for TidBITS, “Understand Cryptocurrency, but Don’t Invest in It.”

My argument: the principles underlying cryptocurrency are absolutely worth understanding as they will affect the future of financial systems, online transactions, and the recording of transfers of property and value. In what way, we don’t know yet, but that part isn’t a flash in the pan.

As for the value, something worth nothing doesn’t become something because everyone pours their money into it. Without value represented within the system, it’s merely a means of exchange among other systems. Despite all the hype, most of the utility of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies has to do with shifting among currencies recognized for payment, not establishing an independent value for paying for goods or services directly.

I wrote Take Control of Cryptocurrency last year (and updated it a couple of times since) to reflect the desire many people have to learn about Bitcoin, NFTs, distributed autonomous organizations, and other aspects of these new mixes of code and value. You can read more in that book if the article piques your interest.