Why Cryptocurrencies?: Cryptocurrencies are antifragile

It’s common to separate things into two categories: those that are fragile and those that are robust. Regular glass is for example fragile as it breaks easily, often by accident, and bullet-proof glass is robust as it can withstand a significant amount of force before it breaks.

But there’s a third category that we often don’t think about. It’s called antifragile and it goes beyond robustness as it grows even stronger when stressed. I think the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” explains antifragility quite well.

In this chapter I'll motivate why I think cryptocurrencies are antifragile, and will only grow stronger as time goes on. Even in face of serious issues like:

• If developers disagree on the way forward, and want to move the project in two incompatible directions.

• If the reference client abandons core values, and want to steal miner rewards for themselves.

• If marketplaces starts freezing your assets or if governments declare cryptocurrencies illegal.

• If a cryptocurrency experiences 51% attacks.

Do I think cryptocurrencies will come out stronger in the end. Please read the chapter if you want to see my reasoning.

This chapter is part of my book 'Why Cryptocurrencies?', which is completely free to read online. If you want an ebook or a printed book, rest assured that I'm working on it...