Farhad: Yes, the effort to unmask the creator of Bitcoin gave me flashbacks to 2013. But now that the articles in Wired and Gizmodo already seem to be falling apart, I’m a bit more interested. By which I mean, I am not totally asleep.

Mike: I do want to talk a bit about digital currency. This week, Walmart announced that it was also jumping into the fray of digital wallets and would offer its customers a way to pay for stuff at its stores using Walmart’s own app. It’s called Walmart Pay — a wildly creative title — and is basically an extension of Walmart’s already successful mobile app.

It is based on QR-code technology, which is pretty similar to bar code scanning in retail stores. When customers get to the Walmart checkout line, they open the app and present a digital code to the cashier. That code is connected with a payment method — a credit card or Walmart gift card, for example — and is used to pay for their stuff.

Now, I have a lot of thoughts on the complications of this, but I would like to let you go first, mostly so I can knock down all of your terrible arguments.

Farhad: I’ve got to say, I don’t really get this move. Sure, I understand why Walmart wants to be in the payments game. It has been leading the fight against credit card companies over “swipe fees” — the fraction of each purchase that Walmart pays Visa and MasterCard when customers use credit cards. The app helps in that fight. By linking directly to your bank account, Walmart could bypass credit card processors when you shop there.

But that is only if a lot of people use it. And does anybody think that will happen? I am very skeptical. I’m one of the most tech-obsessed nerds around, but I barely ever use Apple Pay when I’m out shopping. Sure, it may be a bit faster to pull out my phone than my credit card, but the difference is so slight that I don’t really see the point. And Walmart’s QR-code idea sounds like a bigger headache still. Why would anyone use that over a plain old credit card?