You address just about every question that arose in my mind as I researched this article. The idea of currency, once you get past bartering, becomes increasingly abstract, removed from the commodity. I think economics is a nebulous "science" precisely because so much of its theory is premised on how people act--and that is never a certainty. The more intellectual and abstract the discussion becomes, the less "real" it is and the less likely to be reliable. I am more a student of history than of science, so I tend to take the long view on currencies. They have never held up over time. They are a matter of faith, mostly. Even gold and silver have fluctuated wildly in value. So I view virtual currencies as I do all others--with a certain amount of wonder, apprehension and hope. I think I have more hope in the crypto than in the fiat because there's more chaos and therefore less predictable malfeasance. But that's just a guess. Very nice comment. Thank you.