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Bitcoin has been one of the world’s worst currencies in 2014

by Timothy B. Lee

The year is almost over, and economist Justin Wolfers tweeted out this Bloomberg chart showing Bitcoin as the world’s worst-performing currency:

Wolfers is absolutely right that Bitcoin is a poor store of value. And people who prefer the currency as a hedge against the inflationary tendencies of the dollar are deeply confused.

But the smart argument for Bitcoin focuses less on its properties as a currency and more on its potential as a technology platform. Bitcoin is the first system in the world to allow totally automated, software-based financial transactions. That could enable a lot of innovation in the payments industry, even if Bitcoin-the-currency never achieves dollar-like stability.

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