[PopePompous]

The article does not address what I think is the Achille's Heel of crypto currencies: Controlling the money supply is one of the most powerful rights that a government has. Why do you think the governments in the EU have not unified their fiscal policies? Why do you think EU countries cheat on their budget deficits? Governments want to be able to make money plentiful during economic downturns, and tighten it up when the economy starts overheating. They set nonzero target inflation rates to encourage people to consume and invest. The idea that governments will allow some technology to remove that power from them is silly. If a crypto currency ever becomes a significant medium of exchange, it will be outlawed (following predictable reports about Drug Kingpins, Terrorists and Child Pornography).

[slededit]

Most cryptocurrencies are spec'd to stop creating new coins after a period of time. But that doesn't mean one couldn't design a coin where inflation is controlled by an entity with the right key.

Even without that consideration policy changes can be enforced by Software updates. In the case of bitcoin gridlock has stalled this process but other coins have managed fine. The government has a strong compelling argument to force upgrades - you can't pay your taxes if you don't and then you will go to jail.

[tim333]

That's only a problem if you expect cryptos to replace fiat in everyday things like paying wages and taxes. If it's a parallel currency like at present it doesn't really effect the money supply stuff.