[jleask]

Gold does have utility beyond being shiny and for now has actual scarcity. Fiat currencies have utility in that I can pay my taxes in the local one, my government pays for things using it, it is pretty much universally accepted etc. I see a future for electronic currencies just not necessarily the crypto technologies we see today.

The "much less likely to get confiscated" is potentially a negative too e.g. confiscation of the profits of crime benefits society. Whether it is more positive or more negative depends upon home much you trust your government to be benevolent.