I've always liked and respected Doug Casey. That's why I never could understand why he was negative about Bitcoin and other digital currencies. "They aren't backed by anything", he would say.
Well, I always knew he would come around. (I figured I might have to make a trip to his awesome Cafayate, Argentina to make the case, but he figured it out before I could get there.)
Here's the key quote:
"My original objection was that Bitcoin isn’t backed by anything. It’s really a private fiat currency. It’s very much like the Zambian Kwacha, the Argentine peso, the US dollar, or any of the other 150-plus currencies in today’s world. It’s a floating abstraction. Unlike state currencies, though, its acceptance isn’t enforced by laws. But, on the other hand, its quantity is limited. But would that be enough to get large amounts of people to use it as a currency?"
"I missed something when I said, back then, that it had no value. It’s a fiat currency, yes, but it has much more practical value than any other."
Here's the rest of his case, just like I would have written it myself!
Doug Casey: How I Learned to Love Bitcoin, Part I
Now, if someone would just tell him about Steemit and BitShares and HERO and EOS... (and about a dozen others that are about to explode on the scene.)
THAT's when he is going to learn what true value is!
UPDATE - Part 2