
Digital Gold or Fool’s Gold? Rethinking the Cryptocurrency Craze In 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz made history by paying 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas—then worth around $41. Today, those Bitcoins would fetch hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s the kind of story that has fueled both the hype and the hysteria around cryptocurrencies. From niche internet forums to mainstream financial headlines, the rise of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a multitude of other crypto assets has been nothing short of phenomenal. Promised as tools of liberation from centralized control, these digital currencies offered visions of a future where banks, borders, and bureaucracy were rendered obsolete. They’ve attracted everyone from idealistic coders and libertarians to celebrity billionaires like Elon Musk, institutional investors, and even governments. Yet, behind the flashing price charts and viral tweets lies a more complex truth. Are cryptocurrencies trul...