Bitcoin is an innovative payment network and a new kind of money. (Siegfried Layda)

It was in the media recently that an entity is trying to set up a Bitcoin exchange in Jamaica. I am astounded that any Jamaican authority would even shake hands with any proposer of this idiocy. I am therefore alarmed that, according to the deputy governor of the Bank of Jamaica Livingstone Morrison,”We have had some exploratory discussions with them, talking about the regulatory framework and the process that would have to be engaged in order for them to secure approval so they can offer the service.” The Gleaner, September 18, 2016)

Bitcoin and its proponents are not to be recognised; they should be chased away. Cash Plus — flawed as it was — had more merits than Bitcoin. And the fact that Bitcoin is being recognised is a reflection of the intellectual inadequacies that now rule countries and the globe.

What is Bitcoin? It is currency plain and simple. Any country that allows a private citizen to create currency has lost its mind. What will the authorities do when Mary Jane decides to reintroduce shark teeth as currency? Or Dorlan H decides to issue “Ginger Ridge Script” (copying the Colonial Script that was issued in pre-revolutionary America)? Will the authority say that Bitcoin is computer-generated so therefore it has validity? But since “Ginger Ridge Script” is printed the old-fashioned way, or even on a 3-D printer, it has no similar value?

The issuing of currency is and ought to remain the sole prerogative of one central authority. Money supply must be heavily regulated and tightly controlled. Money is a medium of exchange used to circulate goods and services. Money has to be in proper proportions to the amount of goods and services that is to be circulated. If there is more money than goods and services hyperinflation can occur.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Bitcoin–Nonsense-_74729