Another one? I have yet to meet anyone who can explain what this crypto money is. Who runs its, who creates this digital money? Is it as safe as that Turkish crypto currency that collapsed a few days ago. I get paid in numbers into my bank account been like that for 25 plus years. I pay my bills, credit cards etc the same way. Don't we have crypto currency already? I use my Apple Pay for 99% of all purchases now. Who are these people behind crypto money? They seem more shady than the NSA, FBI or getting a day pass to Area 51.
I dunno, think of it this way maybe. We used to pay people for out debts through barter. But that has limits. So payment evolved into gold, gold dust, etc. That has limits too. So currency tied to gold was developed. That too has limits. So fiat currency was introduced (or we were sold it as a good thing). Fiat currency is the, "numbers paid into your bank account".
Guess what I'm going to say next... Fiat currency has it's own problems. And if you've had the misfortune to have your local currency hyperinflate and collapse you'd understand and most definitely agree. But you most likely use either the US dollar or the Euro, so you're fairly well insulated (for now) from those problems and as such can make jokes about "that Turkish crypto".
Who are the people behind this "crypto money"?
They're the people who have been burned by the banks and financial institutions abuse and manipulation of money - e.g. the 2008 market and housing collapse. Or they're the people that recognize how bad it is that the Federal Reserve "quantitatively eases" money into the market and that with narry a thought the US government passes legislation giving trillions of dollars in corporate social welfare to prop up and bailout the mega giant businesses that should themselves have their own "rainy day" emergency funds for when times get rough.
I don't blame you, at all, for saying "hey, money works." I won't criticize you for being oblivious to the problems that money has. I mean, like you say - the only thing that matters to you is the numbers that go into your bank account. And making sure you have enough numbers in there.
It's hard enough to to use those numbers already. Let alone understand how stocks, bonds, index, mutual funds, or derivatives work to get you enough numbers to retire on when your age turns 65 (or whatever). And you just pray to your lucky stars that a 1939, 2008, or March 2020 doesn't wipe out your numbers in the middle of your life or during retirement.
But, the long and short of it is that crypto currency is about trying to solve problems. "Bitcoin" in particular is more about creating a better version of physical actual gold (or other precious metals) to store wealth. That is you buy gold to theoretically protect you against a local currency collapse.
Physical actual gold has problems with this, though. The main problem being that anyone, especially the government, can just seize it. Whether that's by executive order, robbery, or just killing you for it.
Crypto currency, though? Bitcoin in particular? Not much of a chance. There's a lot of nuance, but when used properly it is highly resistant to confiscation by executive order, subpoena, civil seizure, criminal robbery, or murder.
Hope that explanation helps some.