Nothing has been made obsolete, nothing about Bitcoin replaces any existing financial institution.
The fact that 99% of cryptocurrencies have no reason to exist including Bitcoin is visible in RAI. RAI is the Swiss franc of cryptocurrencies among hyperinflating nonsense.
What RAI represents is effectively a currency with an entirely computer controlled central bank just like Friedman dreamt of. Now that is possibly the greatest invention of this century. It is battle tested in one of the harshest environments. While every other currency(crypto or not) is dropping like flies, RAI is only dropping as fast as the Swiss franc which is hardly losing its value.
> It also represents in some ways how technology has made all sorts of institutions and paradigms obsolete. Those who are profiting from these previous paradigms and/or are less cognitively adaptive subconsciously are threatened by these types of changes.
I don't know what is going in your head but I could easily accuse you of the same. RAI represents how technology made the old paradigm of hypervolatile currencies obsolete. Bitcoin traders who were profiting from this paradigm or people who are unable to understand computer controlled monetary policy are theatened by these types of changes.
By the way, mining rewards are not a monetary policy because they don't take into account the supply and demand for Bitcoin, nor is there a way to get rid of excess Bitcoin.
I think that mainly that is what drives the hate, just network effects. It's popular to hate because everyone's doing it.
But also, unfortunately cryptocurrency's reputation has largely been ruined by scammers. Because it's like any high technology, it multiplies the power of those who use it. Including the multitudes of low-lifes out there.
The biggest issue though is that people fundamentally do not understand what cryptocurrency is or that it has core advances in digital signatures and blockchains that make legacy trust-based financial systems obsolescent.
It also represents in some ways how technology has made all sorts of institutions and paradigms obsolete. Those who are profiting from these previous paradigms and/or are less cognitively adaptive subconsciously are threatened by these types of changes.