This is the question since 2009. There have been plenty of theories out there. I have read them all! One that stood out to me was the theory that it was the government... So I started to do more research about this.. And here is what I spun my thoughts into.....
Who would benefit from cryptocurrency the most? Is it the early investors who have become multi millionaires, is it the creators of one of the many new cryptocurrencies, is it anyone who is in every industry where the blockchain, tangle, or hashgraph is implemented, is it the miners, or is it the government? Sure in the short term i would go with all of the above except the government, if anything they have the biggest headache! Think about it! They have to worry about money laundering (not like CASH doesn't already do this!), Taxes!!! (making sure they get there piece of the action!), Regulation (stop all of these new Millionaires!), and I'm sure I am missing plenty of other reasons! I just want to point out who will benefit in the longevity of cryptocurrency... Picture this.... Everything is digital!!! That means everything you buy is recorded.. everything you watch is logged... every place you visit logged... is this where we want to be? Blockchain Technology can be absolutely the best technology in the right industries, but not all aspects of life(bc it will record every thing we do). We are becoming more and more digital and our Data is becoming more valuable for companies to use for marketing and making money off what we do. I mean seriously... you can submit receipts of your purchases (Data for the company) for points in which you can turn into gift cards!!! (company rewards pennies on the dollar for what they are getting!) This also means the government can track how much you spend and how much you make.... Take a second... digest...... If you make 50k a year, 35 k after taxes... spend 33k through out the year, added 10k to your savings, and added 4k to your 401k. Everything is ok right? Wait... thats 47k... you only took home 35k! Oh you wash and wax cars on the side to help bring in extra money for your family(bc your job doesn't suffice), thats where it came from. Did you claim that on your taxes? No! Then you have to claim that as a small business! Wait your spouse enjoys buying cheap things and selling them at a monthly garage sale, only profiting about 200 a month. As of now this extra hard work is not tracked. But picture a digital age... EVERYTHING you do will be tracked! Every digital value you receive & spend will be tracked and taxed... we are talking about BILLIONS of dollars that are now taxable! Now do you see the benefit for governments! There are other areas as well.... One example will be Welfare... This will help them prevent fraudulent claims... this will be great! Our governments will help the families that actually need it and prevent those who are committing fraud and save millions in doing so. More money for our governments!!! Where will they spend all this new earned/saved money? There are other areas they will benefit in also.... do you want to know or have areas in mind where they will save/earn more??? Then you should make a comment ....