Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 143 posts

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#101

Post by kelseyfrog »

US laborers suffer from the Triffin dilemma[1] by way of the US dollar acting as both a global reserve currency and a national currency. Should US workers have access to an alternate currency, there is a possibility that the trade deficit wich began in the 1970s could be addressed. Though this would put the US government in the position of controlling the world's reserve currency, but not exerting control over domestic monetary policy which I really don't see happening.

1. https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1011/how-the-tri...

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#102

Post by rieTohgh6 »

ur-whale wrote: post #6

Have you ever been through a contentious divorce? Specifically one where the other party is laying claim to assets you earned? In these type situations, an asset that: 1) no one knows you own 2) even if people know you own them, can't be seized short of torturing you to regurgitate the password 3) can be transferred to any person of your choosing and in any jurisdiction of your choosing in a matter of minutes. seems…

I tired to find recent ruling where judge decided to reopen the case and awarded everything to single spouse, instead of split, after the other one has hidden winning lottery ticket during divorce. But you know what I found? There where multiple such cases.

Crypto would change nothing unless you are much better at laundering money than everybody else.

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#104

Post by adwn »

sjducb wrote: post #16

- The currency of my country is collapsing, I need to buy something which has a value unconnected to my country. - My country imposes export controls on foreign currency. I want to move my money out of my country. - I am unbanked and want to buy a good or service on the internet. - I do not trust the counterparty that I am dealing with on the internet. Using cryptocurrency means that my maximum loss is the vavlu of t…

> I've lost my phone and wallet, I can still get cash from a bitoin ATM using the crypto I'm storing in my brain.

When I enter my debit card and PIN into an ATM belonging to a legally regulated bank, I can be reasonably certain that it won't directly steal all my money. Using a BTC ATM, however, sounds like a convenient way to have all your funds stolen without having to wait for the next big crypto hack/fraud.

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#105

Post by dns_snek »

As Trudeau has demonstrated [0], cryptocurrencies can ensure an uninterrupted access to freedom of speech [1], despite the governments' attempts at silencing their opposition. [2]

[0] https://youtu.be/A651oDZvb0E?t=266

[1] https://tallyco.in/s/lzxccm/

[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/freedom-convoy-2022-d...

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#106

Post by gerikson »

sjducb wrote: post #16

- The currency of my country is collapsing, I need to buy something which has a value unconnected to my country. - My country imposes export controls on foreign currency. I want to move my money out of my country. - I am unbanked and want to buy a good or service on the internet. - I do not trust the counterparty that I am dealing with on the internet. Using cryptocurrency means that my maximum loss is the vavlu of t…

20% cost on remittance is an absolute outlier, the average global cost is around 7%

https://www.saveonsend.com/money-transfer-services/

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#107

Post by dns_snek »

Aterio wrote: post #42
DevKoala wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/bitcoin-does-...

That article doesn't really support your statement. You can have anonymous BTC address. You can tumble it and you can exchange it at anonyy location. It is the most anonymous digital currency after cash cards.

You can tumble it, but Bitcoin is not private by default. It might provide opt-in privacy if you go out of your way to use mixing services.

> It is the most anonymous digital currency after cash cards.

Monero is far, far more private. There is a reason why most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges don't accept it and it's because of its privacy features.

These make it impossible to trace your transaction history (and comply with regulations), which is quite trivial to do with Bitcoin.

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#108

Post by airbreather »

Well, gold mines basically turn diesel into gold - diesel is the primary recurrent input once you have the reserve.

Crypto, with mining, allows conversion of other energy sources, eg hydro or unwanted flare gas, into currency.

Not saying it's good or bad, just making an observation.

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#109

Post by elric »

jokethrowaway wrote: post #81
ruuda wrote: post #37

Scott Alexander recently ran a grants program ( https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/so-you-want-to-run-a-m... ) and wrote this about the experience: > Then you have to actually give people money. > > You know how, whenever there’s a debate about cryptocurrency, some crypto fanboy gushes about how it makes sending money so much easier? And if you’re like me, you think “yes, but right now you can just enter a number…

Bank transfers are free in several countries in the UK and in Europe. I can even get free (both personal and business) bank accounts.

They are free in the entire SEPA (for personal use, up to some number of transactions, within the SEPA in EUR).

Free bank accounts are becoming pretty rare, unfortunately. Give it a couple of years and they'll be extinct :-(

Re: Ask HN: What real world problem does cryptocurrency solve?

#110

Post by ggeorgovassilis »

zwkrt wrote: post #56
sjducb wrote: post #16

- The currency of my country is collapsing, I need to buy something which has a value unconnected to my country. - My country imposes export controls on foreign currency. I want to move my money out of my country. - I am unbanked and want to buy a good or service on the internet. - I do not trust the counterparty that I am dealing with on the internet. Using cryptocurrency means that my maximum loss is the vavlu of t…

So to summarize, it is useful for variously exfiltrating money out of a country, laundering, and for people who are savvy enough to use crypto but not sensible enough to have a bank account. The point about currency collapse is interesting to me, because (like almost all crypto apologist points) it assumes you already have a bunch of it/made a bunch of money on it before the bad thing happens. Everyone else gets to s…

> So to summarize, it is useful for variously exfiltrating money out of a country, laundering

Summarizing & paraphrasing :-) Greece instated capital controls virtually over night, likely illegally as there is freedom of capital movement in the EU [1]. The money on a bank account resides in a particular country, so its legislation applies. Which country's legislation applies to funds in a globally distributed blockchain, whose copies reside all over the globe?

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33303540

edited for spelling

Post reply on HN