Legacy media organization The Washington Post published an opinion article on Thursday, referring to crypto as “worthless” citing the recent tumble of major cryptocurrencies during the “Black Monday” global market crash.
However, crypto lovers were quick to criticize the publication referring to the opinion piece as a “clickbait” to enrage the larger crypto community. Users also pointed out the fallacies of the WaPo article that blamed cryptocurrencies for failing to stand tall amid global market crash.
What is the Washington Post article on crypto all about?
The Washington Post on Thursday published an opinion article by Megan McArdle titled, “When Markets get scary, Crypto proves its worthlessness.”
The opinion author of WaPo has claimed that cryptocurrencies were launched back in 2009 with the intent to become a “refuge from government”, and “an alternative to the corruption, instability and self dealing of traditional finance”. The article has further claimed that none of the above mentioned claims have stood the test of time and especially during the “Black Monday” global crash.
The article further presents the argument that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are only suited for countries like Venezuela that are suffering from “awful monetary policies”. The writer also states that crypto transactions are “too cumbersome” and take a lot of time, “even hours” and the only solution is to facilitate these transactions through crypto exchanges.
The writer concludes the piece by stating that the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is only for those who would like to move their wealth out of the country bypassing the local taxation laws.
What Happened on Black Monday?
On Monday, stocks and assets in various markets across the globe stumbled after Japan’s Nikkei index registered its steepest fall in the past 40 years. Likewise, Bitcoin tanked 15% and went below $50,000 and the total value of the cryptocurrency market also registered a 12.9% drop to $1.96 trillion.
However, Bitcoin soon rose through the week and currently is trading around $61,031.
How Crypto lovers responded to the WaPo article?
Crypto lovers were enraged at the Washington Post article and termed it as a “hit piece” against the crypto community. They claimed that the article writer has no concept of reality and made farce comparisons.
Some users also objected to another article by the Washington Post calling Bitcoin “stupid”.
Why does the Washington Post article have logical fallacies?
Argument 1
The author of the concerned opinion piece has put forth the argument that since Bitcoin’s value plummeted during the market crash, it has failed its original purpose of being an antithesis to traditional markets and the finance sector.
The author has conveniently forgotten to mention that Bitcoin has traveled a long way from its value next to nothing to a staggering $72,000 USD. This means BTC has received an enormous push into the mainstream and when that happens then it’s obvious that global scale events are bound to have repercussions on it as well.
In fact, BTC’s price has skyrocketed after the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump and it was a clear example that BTC’s fluctuations respond to major events. Therefore Black Monday was no exception. However, BTC has quickly surged to $61,000 in the past two days, regaining its lost momentum.
Moreover, unlike fiat currencies, Bitcoin’s creation and supply is capped at 21 million tokens and its rewards are curtailed by every Halving event at four years. This means, in the coming times, BTC’s price is only going to rise.
An article in Forbes succinctly puts forth the point that BTC inflation rate is 75% less than US rate.
Argument 2
Moreover, the next argument that BTC and other cryptocurrencies have failed to act as a foolproof system to the corruption and inherent flaws of traditional banking also has logical fallacies. Cryptocurrencies and decentralized based finance cannot deter human greed, just like the internet cannot stop people from abusing it for nefarious purposes.
The decentralized nature of blockchain offers unprecedented levels of transparency to all users for them to check the status. This means any entity, be it the government or a corporation, have the same abilities as your next door crypto nerd.
Argument 3
Moreover, the final argument that cryptocurrencies are only a medium for the wealthy to transfer their funds out of the local jurisdiction is a short sighted argument. Bitcoin has made great progress to the extent that former U.S. president Donald Trump has announced setting up a strategic Bitcoin reserve and Russian president Vladimir Putin has also agreed to legalize crypto mining. Neither U.S. nor Russia have “awful monetary policy” like Venezuela yet they realize the potential of cryptocurrencies and are working towards them.
Conclusion
To summarize, the article by Washington Post is shortsighted and meant to trigger the crypto community that is increasingly seeking its place in mainstream U.S. politics. While BTC and other cryptocurrencies’ reputation is only going to rise with time, we cannot say the same about legacy media.
Also Read: New Proposal for Tax-Free Bitcoin Economic Zone in the U.S.
