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A few weeks ago in London, at a pre-conference dinner before the Platts Digital Commodities Summit, the conversation naturally turned to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and the rejection – and disdain – that many supporters of the entire crypto movement have for what are known as “fiat currencies.” Most people know fiat currencies as everything from afghanis (Afghanistan) to zlotys (Poland), with dollars, yen and euros in-between. Crypto currencies have been likened to gold: not controlled by a central government, a supply that rises only incrementally (and in the case of bitcoin, will eventually be capped), and therefore not inflationary. One of the conversation’s participants in the restaurant’s cigar bar, a backer of bitcoin, said to another person: “Look at that suit you’re wearing. I’ll bet you 200 years ago, if you had bought the equivalent suit and paid for it