741–750 of 849 posts
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You still need to have a bank account to do that, and bank accounts are one of the first things law enforcement freezes when they want to take away people's assets. Objecting that the deposits you made into the bank account were cash won't help much at that point.
You don't need a bank account to send a money order. You just need to visit a post office with cash.
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Yes, that is the argument I am making. But it is important that these fungible cryptocurrencies are as cash-like as possible. So, no global ledger.
I always tend to assume good faith in discussions, so I must ask, are you trolling? Or is it just that HN's general antagonism towards any form of cryptographic currency stems from a dearth of information?
Someone was arguing that we should reject a cashless society, and I was making an argument that it is impossible to do at this point.
The only solution is to have a digital currency as close to cash as possible.
Ethereum (on its own) does not meet this requirement. It is perfectly fungible, but still has a global ledger that can be used to track transactions. It is important that people move to standard L2s that don’t have a record of every transaction.
Bitcoin is actually not fungible in the first place. The Lightning network does provide transaction privacy, though.
By “no global ledger” I should have clarified: there might be a need for a global ledger, but it should be missing all consumer transactions.
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> Also always keep £500 rolled up in £20 notes somewhere This is good advice, always have some cash around; in these uncertain times, I'd even argue to increase the amount. Make sure to have a record somewhere that you have it (a photo on your phone with e.g. ID and a dated newspaper? I dunno) so that IF you get your home broken into, you can prove it to your insurance. Of course, there's plenty of places to hide a s…
The "trick" in the UK here is to use gold coins, as they are a currency. There's a plethora of places that will bulk sell you gold coins to use as a store of wealth.
> The government’s action is troubling enough, but what should really disturb us is the ease and invisibility with which it is being done. This is such a great point. I'm not sure why it needs to be made over and over again, but it seems that's the only way it doesn't get buried. Let's play a game. I will be the institution, you will be the person. You will get ability to record me with your cellphone and post stuff…
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> He's saying that using cash is inconvenient because no-one uses cash where he is. No, I'm not. I'm saying using cash is inconvenient for me for things like paying my monthly bills because it would require me to physically go to each individual company I pay bills to and pay them in person. Whereas with a credit card I can pay all my monthly bills in a few minutes from my desk at home. Even if my utility company, fo…
If you're unwilling to read what I'm writing and just want to waffle, go for it. If I don't have coffee in the cupboard is it inconvenient to drink coffee or is it just that I don't have coffee in the cupboard? If you're arguing that it's inconvenient, then okay, that's your definition of the word. I'm really not interested in arguing about definitions of words and neither should you be.
Project much?
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> He's saying that using cash is inconvenient because no-one uses cash where he is. No, I'm not. I'm saying using cash is inconvenient for me for things like paying my monthly bills because it would require me to physically go to each individual company I pay bills to and pay them in person. Whereas with a credit card I can pay all my monthly bills in a few minutes from my desk at home. Even if my utility company, fo…
> I'm saying using cash is inconvenient for me for things like paying my monthly bills because it would require me to physically go to each individual company I pay bills to and pay them in person. We could solve this problem with an a service where you'd be able to pool all the money you intend to spend on bills, and then the service would handle getting the cash to each individual company. :) That money could even…
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* The government’s action is troubling enough, but what should really disturb us is the ease and invisibility with which it is being done. When we can’t see the consequences of government conduct, the risks of government misconduct increases. A government that sends in riot troops to dispel a crowd will rightly pay a price if the police commit abuses. But the diffuse and anonymous nature of financial enforcement mean that sweeping repression can easily go undetected. It is the political equivalent of using drone strikes instead of boots on the ground.*
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The fact that weaponizing the financial system against nonviolent protestors and their distant supporters was the government’s tool of first resort should worry anyone who understands the role of civil disobedience in democracy
Canada's democracy was seriously wounded by the people currently controlling its government. What's going to heal it?
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kraken.com? Just try a different exchange?
When I tried to sign up, I had to scan my driver's license, enter my SSN, take a picture of myself and attach a bank account. Doing all of that kind of goes against the anonymity aspect.
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I think those things are true, and I live in Canada. I strongly support Trudeau's actions on this, and I'm sad that the government took so long to crack down on the "truckers". It's deeply damaging to civil society when a few extremists can shut down a city without consequences.
As a resident of the city in question, lets talk facts(whatever that means) if you care to read on.. Almost nothing was shut down as a result of this protest. You could travel over 99.5% of the city and forget a protest was taking place. Almost anything that was shut down, was shut down voluntarily. Only the 3-4 blocks immediately adjacent to the Parliament buildings (where else do you go to protest your federal gove…
But streets like Kent, Metcalfe, and O'Connor (and the cross streets between them) where the noise and diesel exhaust were messing up people's lives. I'm sorry, but honking your air horn for 10 minutes in a residential neighbourhood is a criminal offense. And it's not like you're sticking it to the elite, here. Somerset Ward is one of the lowest-income wards in the city. Only Vanier is lower, and not by much.
Your dismissal of this as only affecting a few high-priced condos and side streets is shocking. The affected area was nowhere near 90% government buildings. For example, this section of Kent was full of protest vehicles making noise at all hours:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.4168826,-75.7005369,3a,75y,11...
Do those look like high-priced condos to you? Ditto for this section of Metcalfe:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.4180527,-75.6932468,3a,75y,56...
I know it's easy to dismiss the people living downtown when you live out in Barrhaven or Kanata, but I'm saddened by your callous disregard for your fellow citizens living in a low-income part of the city. Just because you don't notice them, it doesn't mean they aren't there.
I don't mean for any of this to be pejorative; it just sounds like you're someone living in a suburban part of the city who went to the protest, walked around the party zone, and assumed that stretch of Metcalfe/Rideau represented the entire thing.
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How do you pay for digital goods with cash? Are you suggesting that every single online business that exists should have a mailing address to mail cash or checks, and have people to process them? I imagine that you pay for software in some form, as an example of a digital good. Do we need to go back to burning CDs and buying software in physical stores with physical money? Reject it all you want, but there is no goin…
This is a disingenuous argument.If you want to pay for software or digital goods you already probably have or want a bank account, a paypal or something.You're already in the ecosystem and nobody forces you to use cash everywhere.By the way >it is Let's do the opposite example now: Do you >need People want to think about cash/cashless in terms of black and white, yes or no.I used to be pro-cashless and certainly I am…
Some types of goods you can only buy over the internet, like software, and this trend will only continue.
I think MoneyGram/Western Union are a great counterpoint, but while anonymous, I consider that more similar to cashless than cash: you have to input cash into a machine and… transmit it over the internet.
I also agree it is not a binary thing.