[mikeash]

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are extremely interesting, for sure.

Technologically, they're interesting because they're a clever solution to difficult problems, and there's a lot to learn from how they work.

Sociologically, they're interesting because they seem to attract a lot of "move fast and break things" people to an area where that attitude works poorly, and the result is an ongoing stream of scams, heists, and other failures. There's a lot to learn here in terms of what not to do.

The technological side seems to be fairly well understood at this point, but the sociological side constantly comes up with new ways to be ridiculous, so naturally the discussion now focuses on this.