A Jedi's Parry Against Crypto Deniers - Postive Externalities

Crypto deniers like to throw various accusations at advocates of altcoins: ponzi schemers, jihadi financiers, tax avoiders, pumpers and dumpers, money launderers etc etc.

But rather than back-foot it with a few choice crypto-defence parries, let's look at this issue – which every advocate of cryptocurrency has to face - in a different way. Instead of having to refute the negative, it may be that there are cryptos that – beyond the financials - might actually do some good in the 'real' world.

Jamie Dimon and his ilk have terms for this: the unintended phenomena of a market are called 'externalities', and can be positive (increasing car ownership leads to increasing GDP, natch) or negative (it also leads to sitting for hours in pointless jams).

Solarcoin, for example, takes cyptocurrency and adds the externality of supporting renewable energy. SolarCoin shares many characteristics of Bitcoin et al, indeed Solarcoin is a double fork – a fork of LiteCoin, itself a fork of Bitcoin. But this cheeky support mechanism for renewable energy does have some startling ideas and an avid fan base. And maybe – just maybe – it could build to a replacement forFeed-in-tariffs, the rapidly fading support for renewable energy that – within a few years – look likely to disappear altogether.

Solarcoins get given to people and organisations who generate clean electriity. That's the proof of work bit: generating clean energy is the basis of SolarCoins currency, just as Steemit's posts and curations are the basis of Steem.

Once you've got 'em, Solarcoins can then be exchanged on various exchanges. In the last six months the value of the solarcoins has doubled, trebled and then quadrulpled; indeed, Solarcoiners have a saying 'to the SUN!', a riff on Bitcoiners 'to the MOON!' - but both are embarrassing and should be scrapped.

SolarCoin is well worth checking out: it may be financial innovation will emerge to complement the technical innovation that has driven renewble energy so for.

Now that would be a defence of cryptocurrency – and then some.

(If you've a heads up on altcoins which are doing good out there in the 'real world', I'd love to hear of 'em!)