I don't understand the vitriol and shadenfreuden going on over this.
Auroracoin had the potential to really help the Icelandic economy, and is a public shop window for the potential crypto currency as a whole. This undermines the prospects for every cryptocurrency.
OK, I mean no disrespect for the Icelandic people, but I'm fucking sick and tired of hearing this shit regurgitated over and over from the AUR fanbois. Neither I nor many other users here are from Iceland; and this may be shocking to you, but we don't really give a flying fuck about the Icelandic economy. If the Icelandic people don't give a fuck about their own economy enough to correct it themselves, then that's their fucking problem.
Cryptocurrencies are designed by nature to be universal. If they really want they can fight their government to use any of the other of the great cryptocurrencies disposable to them such as BTC, LTC, DOGE and so on. But hey, guess what, they fucking don't. Why? Perhaps they don't have the fucking nerve to stand up for themselves. We'll fine by me. No skin off my back.
It could be argued that the dev created this to scam BTC into his own pockets, it could also be argued he created this to try to get the rest of the world to financially support Iceland (as if any sane person would willingly give money to some poor saps in another country for free, hilarious); God knows there evidence pointing to both, but regardless of that national cryptocurrencies aren't fucking needed.
Let me repeat that for the reading impared, national cryptocurrencies are not fucking needed.