Cryptocurrencies – The Money of the Future? - Unit 8
C1 Advanced · Cross Text Multiple Matching · Ready for C1 Advanced 4th Edition Workbook, Macmillan Education
You are going to read four extracts from articles in which experts discuss positive and negative aspects of cryptocurrencies. For questions 1–4, choose from the experts A–D. The experts may be chosen more than once.
Afonso Ferreira
Cryptocurrencies have been accused of being a haven for dirty money, a speculative bubble for foolhardy investors and even a major cause of global warming. While these criticisms are all valid, what is often overlooked is their importance as an alternative to traditional currencies. To appreciate this, look beyond the big global currencies like the dollar and focus on more volatile currencies. Many countries have suffered collapses as a result of central bank policies or deliberate currency manipulation, wiping out the savings of countless people overnight. Cryptocurrencies, being free of regulatory control and influence, are immune from such forces, offering much-needed stability to people whose national currencies are unreliable. What’s more, around 1.7 billion of the world’s people have no access to bank accounts, which cuts them off from the global economy. With cryptocurrencies, that problem is solved: all you need is a phone with internet access, and you’re free to trade with the world.
Yelena Zhiglova
For the world’s scammers, hackers, gangsters, money launderers and fraudsters, the anonymity offered by cryptocurrencies is a dream come true. Almost every other form of payment can be traced across bank accounts by police and tax authorities, but cryptocurrencies are inherently untraceable. According to researchers, 25% of all users of one popular cryptocurrency, and 44% of all transactions, were associated with illegal activity. This encouragement of criminal behaviour is bad enough, but the volatility of cryptocurrencies dramatically exacerbates the problem. Within one six-year period, the unit price of one cryptocurrency skyrocketed from around 30 cents to almost
0,000, making it one of the most extreme speculative bubbles of all time. Millions were driven crazy by this opportunity to make a fortune, driving the price higher and higher, and countless criminal organisations were all too keen to help them ‘invest’ their money in get-rich-quick schemes before the bubble burst and they lost everything.
Serafima Qureshi
The tragedy of cryptocurrencies is that they are too popular for their own good. A useful currency must be stable and predictable, so users know their savings will still be worth approximately the same amount the next day and the next year, a few minor fluctuations notwithstanding. If the currency is collapsing, they’ll want to spend it immediately before it becomes worthless; if it’s surging, they’ll want to hang on to it for as long as possible. Neither of these conditions is conducive to day-to-day earning and spending. Added to this is the inconvenience of actually spending cryptocurrencies: very few shops accept payment in them, and even in those that do, customers may have to wait ten minutes for their payment to be processed. Finally, there is the stigma of association with criminal activity, although this seems overstated. After all, cash payments are also anonymous, and therefore favoured by criminals, but that’s not necessarily a reason to treat it as inherently suspicious.
Somchai Chanthara
Proponents and opponents of cryptocurrencies endlessly debate their strengths and weaknesses, but one flaw is undeniable: their devastating impact on the environment. Cryptocurrencies are generated through a process called ‘mining’: huge supercomputers around the world race each other to crunch unbelievable quantities of data. Put simply, the mining team that crunches the data first wins the next batch of currency, worth fantastic sums of money, while the other teams get nothing for their efforts. These races, which take place every ten minutes, consume monstrous amounts of computer processing power, requiring ridiculous amounts of electricity. One recent analysis found that mining of the most popular cryptocurrency consumed about seven gigawatts of electricity, equivalent to 0.2% of the world’s total electricity consumption – roughly the same as the whole of Switzerland. If it’s that bad while cryptocurrencies are still only used by a tiny fraction of the world’s population, imagine if they became the standard currency for everybody.
Which expert doesn’t mention either of the main points made by expert B?
Which expert is most supportive of cryptocurrencies?
Which expert agrees with expert D’s main point?
Which expert agrees with expert C about the tragedy of cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies – The Money of the Future?
Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.