Cryptocurrency in simple details.

[Pat Mustard]

It's about 2 things - trust, and the government's ability to change the money supply to avoid economic shocks.

Gold is best for trust, but it doesn't allow governments any economic control.

Gold isn't any good for trust*. It's just a shiny metal with little intrinsic use or value. The successful currencies are those that have a strong economy and proper tax base backing them up.

* For example, gold destroyed the Spanish empire, because Spaniards lost trust in its value very quickly once the American gold mines got up and running. Gold also destroyed the western economies after the Wall Street crash because people began to realise that a country that had a commodity backed currency couldn't control the value of that currency.