Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
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Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
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Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#2I think removing embargos would help more than a volatile cryptocurrency.
Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#3Went diving for the lede and gave up somewhere near the wreck of the titanic. Maybe I scrolled right past but wow that was a lot of extra context.
Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#4I think removing embargos would help more than a volatile cryptocurrency.
Yes. But, which of those two options is actually happening?
Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#5Ahh yes. socialism bad, unfettered capitalism good.
Maybe we (The US) should just lift the embargo?
Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#6Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#7Cubans complain that all economic surplus is confiscated by the state. So then how is opening trade w Cuba going to help in the long run when all it will do is give a bunch of cash to prop up the regime? We have to stop trading with totalitarian governments including China and Russia, not allow more of them access to US markets.
Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. But, which of those two options is actually happening?
Touché
A volatile currency with direct transaction fees ranging from $0.05-60 [edited per FreeRadical - thanks!] and indirect transaction fees of roughly $90 (socialized block reward). Whose value dropped 50% in a month then went up 50% in a month (which of course still leaves it 25% below its near-term highs). I don't think even the Cuban Peso performs like that. Think about both of those in terms of the average salary of a Cuban national. How about the minimum wage? $0.44 per hour.
[edit, and while I'm in here] And why did it drop 50% in a month? Because the worlds 25th largest automaker decided it was a bad medium of exchange for buying electric cars.
Perhaps unsurprisingly in Venezuela, they decided to go the other way, dollarizing. They moved 66% of all transactions to the USD, forcing the Maduro government's hand, and leading to their major banks offering USD deposit accounts. [1]
If anything they need USDC not BTC. This is just gambling in a regulatory and legal void. The Mad Max of finance.
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-13/venezuela...
Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#9Bitcoin could be the undoing of the regime. It will allow Cubans to accumulate wealth that the regime cannot seize or convert into another worthless Cuban domestic currency. While I like the idea of free health care and education, the idea that a brain surgeon gets paid same as a street cleaner is absurd. Cuba is a series of failed experiments.
Re: Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution
#10Bitcoin could be the undoing of the regime. It will allow Cubans to accumulate wealth that the regime cannot seize or convert into another worthless Cuban domestic currency. While I like the idea of free health care and education, the idea that a brain surgeon gets paid same as a street cleaner is absurd. Cuba is a series of failed experiments.
> While I like the idea of free health care and education, the idea that a brain surgeon gets paid same as a street cleaner is absurd.
I personally support wealth and income inequality when coupled with social mobility (and a high standard of living at the low end). With that in mind, why do you think it's absurd for both a street cleaner and a brain surgeon to enjoy a middle class lifestyle? I think we both agree neither should be dirt poor, but of course, that's not the only option. I cannot, for one, think of a solid justification. Both do something important, necessary even, and both benefit society at large.
This comes up frequently here when folks balk at Canadian software engineering wages, which are by Canadian standards solid middle class wages. Compared to America it can be a "pittance" but of course, Canada has much lower wealth and income inequality - and it's because there's a much tighter band of compensation.
Fun stuff to think about.