5 Threats to Cryptocurrency Dominance

Can cryptocurrency eventually replace traditional fiat? Maybe ... but it will have to navigate several considerable obstacles first.

Cryptocurrencies
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Many have touted cryptocurrency as the future of money, commerce and investment. That's largely because of its lack of centralized control, ability to store value, frictionless transacting and democratized access to the world financial system.

All of this means people need not rely on central banks or governments for facilitating transactions, managing the supply of money, nor any other function of traditional fiat currency.

Cryptocurrencies bypass this central command and control by using open-source decentralized ledgers called blockchains to record all transactions since each coin's beginning.

But while these records of account do a remarkable job at combating things such as fraud, theft and other problems commonly found in traditional financial systems, digital currencies still face numerous hurdles to legitimacy and widespread adoption.

Read on as we look at some of the best-known risks to cryptocurrencies becoming a replacement to fiat currency.

Contributing Writer, Kiplinger.com

Riley Adams is a licensed CPA who works at Google as a Senior Financial Analyst overseeing advertising incentive programs for the company's largest advertising partners and agencies. Previously, he worked as a utility regulatory strategy analyst at Entergy Corporation for six years in New Orleans.