Cryptocurrency does not feature in our strategic portfolio, partly because we are not yet converts to the idea of crypto as a fundamental asset. There’s an obvious appeal to the idea of a currency that lies outside government control. Yet the two biggest cryptocurrencies – bitcoin and ether – have significant disadvantages for transactions compared with existing payment networks. The need for a stable store of value is obvious given the growing long-term risks of currencies being debased. Yet gold still seems a superior choice in almost all ways. All this makes it difficult to decide whether cryptocurrency is truly a revolution that will find more and more mainstream applications, or the ultimate expression of our bubble-prone…
