Originally Posted by
mflat
The current state of Cryptocurrencies is that of a technology that is still immature, due to un-user friendly tooling and a high knowledge barrier of entry. Think of the dial-up internet pre-AOL.
This industry will mature. I think frequent flyer miles as a crypto-token makes absolute sense. This will intersect with the greater cryptocurrency world once concepts like decentralised exchanges and atomic swaps take hold. Imagine having a free-market exchange system for flying-tokens that doesn't rely on a central body or broker. Anyone want to trade 10 Avios for my 5 Starwood points? This could happen in the future for free, anonymously, and without any fear of hacking as it becomes purely peer-to-peer.
Or does anyone want to cash-in their flying-token for a cryptocurrency? Being able to freely swap flying-tokens for cryptocurrencies will completely change the value and market demands for each program.
Read the T&Cs of your miles programs carefully. They usually explain somewhere that the airline, not you, owns all of your miles. (That's why if they feel you've defrauded them, they can take away all of your miles, including ones you "bought"!)
Why should an airline take miles that they own and turn them into cryptocurrency that they don't own?
What's in it
for them?