Why Bitcoin Skepticism Persists Even as Mainstream Adoption Grows: Adam Back

Bitcoin—once an arcane tech largely used by people wanting to buy illicit goods on the dark web—has now gained institutional acceptance. 

With everyone from Wall Street giants like BlackRock to the U.S. government getting involved, the leading cryptocurrency is now more mainstream than ever. You can even buy burgers with it.

So it begs the question: Why is it still so hard for some people to understand and accept? With traditional finance heavyweights like investor Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon slamming the asset, it’s appears that some people will never be open to Bitcoin.

Speaking to Decrypt, Blockstream CEO and well-known early Bitcoiner Adam Back said that this is nothing new—and that even techies struggle to get their head around the cryptocurrency.

Calling continued skepticism “confusing,” Back used the example of cypherpunks back in the day who seemed uninterested in Bitcoin. He thought it was “crazy” that some of them didn’t get onboard.

“You understood all about code, peer-to-peer networks, privacy, public key cryptography, and secure sockets layer,” he added. “Like, you have a huge leg up in understanding this, and you’re not interested. What gives?”

Cypherpunk Back—who had an email exchange with the cryptocurrency’s mysterious, pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008—said the fact that so-called digital gold isn’t physical might be why some people remain suspicious of Bitcoin after all these years. 

“Some are skeptical about something that’s not physical and yet has a scarcity,” he commented, adding that the coin is still backed by physical resources like energy and mining equipment. 

Bitcoin is a digital payments system and virtual currency, and only 21 million digital coins will ever be minted into existence, thanks to the project’s super-secure cryptographic engineering.

Still, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon expressed cynicism over the leading crypto’s code. 

In a 2023 interview, Dimon asked: “How do you know it’s gonna stop at 21 million? Everyone says that,” before adding, “Bitcoin itself is a hyped-up fraud.” Of course, the billionaire banker also said his firm used the blockchain—a technology created by Satoshi.

The biggest and oldest cryptocurrency was created with global banking failures in mind, with the original white paper released during the 2008 recession. A message referencing a newspaper article covering the situation was even inscribed on the network’s genesis block. 

Now, Bitcoin advocates argue that the cryptocurrency can work as a true inflation hedge due to its scarcity.

Back added that “for people who the establishment order is working,” they may never understand the potential benefits of Bitcoin, nor may they trust something “more grassroots” in nature than fiat currency and traditional finance.

“If they’ve got a high-paying job, they’re working their way up the career ladder, things don’t look too expensive for them, and they can afford mortgages,” said Back, “then maybe they don’t feel it.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward