Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman complained on Twitter Wednesday that he was experiencing problems with centralized payment processor Venmo. His tweet was followed by a barrage of bitcoin supporters who insisted that Krugman was now realizing the importance of censorship-resistant payment systems.
Krugman’s experience highlights growing interest in censorship-resistant payment systems
Nobel Prize winner and author Paul Krugman, who wrote in 1998 that “by 2005 or so, it will be clear that the impact of the Internet on the economy has been no greater than that of the fax machine,” had trouble with a external payment provider. . On Wednesday, Krugman announced on Twitter that he was busy but needed to explain the situation.
“Too busy to tweet. But not to vent.” Krugman saying. “I’ve been using Venmo for years, but now it won’t let me make payments. I spent a lot of time chatting with reps and they told me they can’t explain why or fix it. The software has taken control.”
Paul Krugman follows the Keynesian school of economics and has been a longtime bitcoin skeptic. He was quickly criticized by several bitcoin advocates, including Microstrategy’s Michael Saylor, who insisted that “Bitcoin fixes this.”
Even a Twitter user aforementioned Krugman, asking “Exactly what is (bitcoin) supposed to do that we mostly don’t do anymore?” In the past, the economist has compared the cryptocurrency market to the fall in subprime mortgages and is well known for his skepticism towards bitcoin.
Krugman expressed his frustration with Venmo on Twitter, and the thread quickly filled with comments about bitcoin. Despite numerous statements, the economist did not respond to cryptocurrency fans. An individual aforementioned from the bitcoin white papersaying, “Try a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic money that allows online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”
Shortly after Krugman’s first tweet, the economist explained that his tweet helped solve his Venmo problem. “And tweeting got results. He called a rep and it looks like we’re up again,” Krugman said his 4.5 million followers on social media. Krugman’s experience with Venmo is not unique, as billionaire Mark Mobius recently detailed his own difficulties in raising funds from HSBC China. Mobius’s problems were also criticized by bitcoin enthusiasts, who pointed out that he should understand the importance of censorship-resistant money like bitcoin.
What do you think about Paul Krugman’s Venmo issues and the criticism he received from bitcoin supporters about his views on cryptocurrency? Share his thoughts on this subject in the comments section below.
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