I am a little curious what you mean by “really interesting to me.”
You’ve just described the economic system that directly caused the Panic of 1837 (cf. “The Specie Circular” of 1836), the panic of 1873, the panic of 1884, the panic of 1893, and helped bring on the great depression. Each of those was caused by the gold standard making an expansion of the money supply impossible, and led to multi-year depressions.
There is a reason “you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold” is one of the most famous lines in American History.
Here’s the problem with any “fixed amount” currency: you can’t grow your economy without inducing deflation. That may not seem like an inherently bad thing, but deflation is terrible for any economy the moment uncertainty strikes. If you know the gold/silver/cowry shell/Bitcoin in your hand will definitely be worth at least as much, and probably more, tomorrow, why would you give it way for anything with uncertainty? - like, say, an apple that might rot. As every actor in the economy makes the same calculation, the economy grinds to a halt and a depression ensues.
Note that Bitcoin is deflationary by design.
The only people who benefit long term in such a world are those lucky “one-percenters” who can hold on to their hoards through the deflations. Those lucky few get to wear to awesome tophats and waistcoasts.
So definitely poke around with Bitcoin. It certainly has its uses. If you can make money speculating on it, or it solves some transactional problem in your life, go for it.
But I, for one, will take Ben Beranke over Satoshi Nakamoto for my economy’s steward every single time.
p.s. You were one Helluva a great Gamemaster. The wider BB Audience deserves to know that.
