As the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried continues to expose the magnitude of his crypto fraud, many are asking what legitimate purpose the industry could ever serve. In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, contributing columnist Adam Lashinsky declared that crypto can officially be cast aside as “a solution in search of a problem.”

Data from Statista shows that only 16% of the United States population has owned or used cryptocurrency as of 2023, 14 years after Bitcoin’s launch. In developing countries like Nigeria, Turkey, and Argentina, the figure is much higher as crypto serves as a unique investment opportunity and an escape from the devaluation of local fiat currencies.

Billionaire investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Bill Miller have compared Bitcoin to “digital gold”, claiming it is an inflation hedge due to its fixed supply cap of 21 million coins. Even Blackrock CEO Larry Fink, a former crypto skeptic, declared that crypto is “digitizing gold” this year shortly after his fund filed for a Bitcoin ETF in the United States.

However, Lashinsky dismissed the “digital gold” narrative, claiming cryptocurrencies “have no inherent value”. This mirrors the opinion of numerous central banks, such as the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, who say Bitcoin’s volatility prevents it from being an inflation hedge and that investors should be prepared to lose everything. European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde even went as far as to say in 2022 that cryptocurrencies are “worth nothing”.

Another proposed benefit of crypto is cheaper cross-border remittances, but Lashinsky said this too has failed to materialize. Research showed that less than 1% of global remittance volume took place with digital currency.

“Crypto”, he concluded, “was a made-up concept from its inception” and “after you switch off your computer or phone, you can’t even look at it”.