Bitcoin isn’t a currency, but a bet on skepticism

Bitcoin isn’t a currency, but a bet on skepticism

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)NEW YORK  - Bitcoin is down, but not out. Even after a recent fall, the cryptocurrency's price has jumped over 260% in the past 12 months, topping $40,000 earlier in January. There are many reasons why that isn't rational. But if the market can remain irrational – and it probably can – even a bitcoin skeptic can be bullish.The conventional case for bitcoin is easy to dismantle. First, there's the idea that its fixed supply makes it a safeguard against the rampant issuance of real-world currencies. Yet bitcoin's price roughly doubled in under a month after it hit $20,000 in December; monetary easing started way earlier. Then there's the increased ease of trading through retail apps like Robinhood. That, though, could facilitate a similarly rapid plunge. It's also a lousy medium of exchange: Visa can process thousands of transactions per second, but the bitcoin blockchain can handle under ten, according to many industry experts.A better reason to be positive on the cryptocurrency is as a gauge of long-term fear. Concerns about the value of fiat currency may be misguided, but the worried can easily find reasons to be