Bitcoin critics frequently say:

The types of critics to say the quote above tends to be precisely those individuals that have never had reason to mistrust their government with their savings. Such a reaction to Bitcoin simply reveals their ignorance and anglocentrism.

Bitcoin may offer little perceived social benefit to westerners in first world countries, but can be a lifeline for people in oppressive regimes, unbanked third world countries, etc.

The western media typically under-reports this and we are understandably blind to some of these problems (e.g see this panel from the Oslo Freedom Forum)

For example, bitcoins have been used as a medium of exchange by girls in Afghanistan, by Russian political opposition when their bank accounts get frozen, by Nigerian merchants and protesters, by people getting capital out of China, by people getting their money out of Venezuela, Iran, Palestine, and elsewhere, by under-banked people in El Salvador, and more. It’s also used in developed markets for some natively-online services, such as Substack or buying VPNs, and many others.