Crypto Community Pounces as Economist Paul Krugman Faces Traditional Finance Woes

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October 23, 2023

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Prominent economist and well-known critic of cryptocurrency, Paul Krugman, has stirred up the crypto community with his recent comment about being locked out of Venmo, claiming that the “software has taken control.”

The tweet from Krugman said that although he has been a user of the popular online payment service Venmo for years, making payments had suddenly become impossible for him.

Too busy to tweet. But not to vent. I've been using Venmo for years, but now it won't allow me to make payments. I spent a long time in chat with representatives, and they told me that they can't explain why — or fix it. The software has taken control.

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) March 8, 2023

Two hours later, the economics professor said in a follow-up tweet that a representative from Venmo had now called him and solved the problem.

“[…] we seem to be up again,” he wrote.

Crypto community reacts

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for several prominent members of the Bitcoin and broader crypto community to react.

“were you trying to buy drugs or assassination,” asked the popular community member Neeraj K. Agrawal, while sharing a screenshot that showed how Krugman in the past has claimed Venmo and other electronic money transfer services are just as good as crypto “unless you’re buying drugs, assassinations, etc.”

were you trying to buy drugs or assassination? pic.twitter.com/5qghQizEu9

— Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) March 8, 2023

Others also pointed out the irony in how even Krugman, as a privileged economics professor, is struggling to make existing fiat-based financial services work for him.

“Try spending just one second in the shoes of someone without your obscene level of financial privilege,” wrote the popular crypto-focused venture investor Nic Carter.

Similarly, the early Bitcoin evangelist Pierre Rochard also pointed to Krugman’s privilege, saying:

“Your privilege paid off! Congratulations.”

Lastly, Krugman, who is famous in internet circles for predicting that the internet’s impact on the economy would be “no greater than the fax machine’s,” was also reminded of this by the community:

This is the reply that wins the internet today! LOL pic.twitter.com/xY6Z4Qzrbb

— Bitmember (@BitMember) March 8, 2023