For years, crypto skeptics have asked, What is this for' And for years, boosters have struggled to offer up a satisfactory answer. They argue that the blockchain'the technology upon which cryptocurrencies and other such applications are built'is itself a genius technological invention, an elegant mechanism for documenting ownership online and fostering digital community. Or they say that it is a foundation on which to build and fund a third, hyperfinancialized iteration of the internet where you don't need human intermediaries to buy a cartoon image of an ape for $3.4 million. Then there are the currencies themselves: bitcoin and ether and the endless series of memecoins and start-up tokens. These are largely volatile, speculative assets that some people trade, shitpost about, use to store value, and, sometimes, get incredibly rich or go bankrupt from. They are also infamously used to launder money, fund start-ups, and concoct elaborate financial fraud. Crypto has its use cases. But...
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