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Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

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Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#61

Post by jcbrand »

dools wrote: post #55
jcbrand wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you can't just hand wave concerns regarding money laundering and other criminality away. I'm not, I'm pointing out the rhetorical techniques being used to delegitimize people who try to create privacy tools. You mean to say that we live in a democracy. We elect our representatives, and they pick who runs these institutions. It's a pernicious myth that there is some meaningful democratic oversight over monetary po…

[flagged]

Which propaganda videos would you prefer I watch?

The Federal Reserve (by far the most important one) is privately owned, as are Belgium, Greece, Japan, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and the Bank of Italy.

The ECB is owned by central banks of member states, some of which are privately owned.

Private ownership is any case one issue, the other is the fact the CBs are structured in such a way to be resistant to political pressure and (meaningful) oversight.

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#62

Post by jcbrand »

qsort wrote: post #52
jcbrand wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you can't just hand wave concerns regarding money laundering and other criminality away. I'm not, I'm pointing out the rhetorical techniques being used to delegitimize people who try to create privacy tools. You mean to say that we live in a democracy. We elect our representatives, and they pick who runs these institutions. It's a pernicious myth that there is some meaningful democratic oversight over monetary po…

> It's a pernicious myth that there is some meaningful democratic oversight over monetary policy Latinate words are not a useful cover when you're lying. All Western central banks are effectively a branch of government and are directly responsible to Congress/euparl/$local_variant, and are run by a bunch of politicians (the chair of the Fed is Powell and the president of the ECB is Lagarde, ffs). The notion that they…

The second paragraph on Wikipedia:

Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally independent from political interference.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bank

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#63

Post by walnutclosefarm »

jcbrand wrote: post #6

Similarly, most public blockchain-based financial products are a disaster for financial privacy; the exceptions are a handful of emerging privacy-focused blockchain finance alternatives, and these are a gift to money-launderers. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. The existing, centralized electronic payment systems are a disaster for financial privacy, and it'll only get worse with CBDCs. If you try to make so…

> Lastly, we reserve the right to manipulate the money supply.

You may dislike the way central banks control and manipulate the money supply, but the reality is that an unmanaged currency is generally a disaster for everyone. To fulfill its role as a stable store of value, a currency has to be managed. The notion that an inherently deflationary unit of accounting (such as Bitcoin), or a completely unmanaged one, or one subject to "management" only through crowd action (as in true Defi) can achieve this is delusional.

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#64

Post by leftbrain »

suriyaG wrote: post #44
dubswithus wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all blockchain is bad because 99.9% of tokens fail, why wouldn’t all startups be bad since a similar number fail as well?

I think, Because startup investment is regulated and not accessible to any average joe. Else, we'd be overrun with conmen trying to make a quick buck. Not that we have less of them now.

Is startup investing really regulated, or is it just your mom and dad and nobody else who have heard about your statup?

- ”Dad, all I need is 10k loan” - ”I will give you the money, son. And I’ll see you in court if it doesn’t work out.”

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#65

Post by agentultra »

jcbrand wrote: post #6

Similarly, most public blockchain-based financial products are a disaster for financial privacy; the exceptions are a handful of emerging privacy-focused blockchain finance alternatives, and these are a gift to money-launderers. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. The existing, centralized electronic payment systems are a disaster for financial privacy, and it'll only get worse with CBDCs. If you try to make so…

Also, we reserve the right to dictate what you spend your money on and if you want to donate to causes (e.g. Wikileaks or truckers) that we don't approve of, we'll block your bank account and cut you off from the system.

There are some things that are plain illegal. If you’re laundering money, selling illegal drugs, running guns, funding terrorist groups, etc you run the risk of getting caught and having your accounts shut down.

We’re not living in a dictatorship (yet). There’s still due process and the justice system.

Lastly, we reserve the right to manipulate the money supply.

“In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse of earlier centuries.” — Ezra Pound

If you’re interested in how money works you should read a book or two about it. It’s pretty interesting. “The government,” isn’t “printing money.”

Absolutely concern yourself with it.

The problem right now is that government regulators aren’t technically savvy enough to understand cryptocrap and it’s implications. They read what briefs they can but they face endless technobabble from lobbyists and “industry representatives.” The hearings with the US congress were something else.

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#66

Post by jcbrand »

walnutclosefarm wrote: post #63
jcbrand wrote: post #6

Similarly, most public blockchain-based financial products are a disaster for financial privacy; the exceptions are a handful of emerging privacy-focused blockchain finance alternatives, and these are a gift to money-launderers. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. The existing, centralized electronic payment systems are a disaster for financial privacy, and it'll only get worse with CBDCs. If you try to make so…

> Lastly, we reserve the right to manipulate the money supply. You may dislike the way central banks control and manipulate the money supply, but the reality is that an unmanaged currency is generally a disaster for everyone. To fulfill its role as a stable store of value, a currency has to be managed. The notion that an inherently deflationary unit of accounting (such as Bitcoin), or a completely unmanaged one, or o…

No post body was provided.

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#68

Post by jcbrand »

agentultra wrote: post #65
jcbrand wrote: post #6

Similarly, most public blockchain-based financial products are a disaster for financial privacy; the exceptions are a handful of emerging privacy-focused blockchain finance alternatives, and these are a gift to money-launderers. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. The existing, centralized electronic payment systems are a disaster for financial privacy, and it'll only get worse with CBDCs. If you try to make so…

Also, we reserve the right to dictate what you spend your money on and if you want to donate to causes (e.g. Wikileaks or truckers) that we don't approve of, we'll block your bank account and cut you off from the system. There are some things that are plain illegal. If you’re laundering money, selling illegal drugs, running guns, funding terrorist groups, etc you run the risk of getting caught and having your account…

We’re not living in a dictatorship (yet).

Funny how people here assume we all live in the same country. There are lots of people on HN who live in dictatorships.

If you’re interested in how money works you should read a book or two about it. It’s pretty interesting.

Thanks for the condescension. Money printing is a colloquial term used to describe various ways in which the money supply is manipulated by Central Banks, they like to use terms such as Quantitative Easing (creation of new bank reserves that didn't before exist) and open market operations (buying assets with money that didn't before exist).

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#69

Post by chalst »

jcbrand wrote: post #6

Similarly, most public blockchain-based financial products are a disaster for financial privacy; the exceptions are a handful of emerging privacy-focused blockchain finance alternatives, and these are a gift to money-launderers. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. The existing, centralized electronic payment systems are a disaster for financial privacy, and it'll only get worse with CBDCs. If you try to make so…

> Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Conventional banking combines a moderate level of privacy with effective measures against money laundering. Why shouldn't we ask that crypto be judged against this baseline?

Re: Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry’s influence

#70

Post by Seriomino »

jcbrand wrote: post #66
walnutclosefarm wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lastly, we reserve the right to manipulate the money supply. You may dislike the way central banks control and manipulate the money supply, but the reality is that an unmanaged currency is generally a disaster for everyone. To fulfill its role as a stable store of value, a currency has to be managed. The notion that an inherently deflationary unit of accounting (such as Bitcoin), or a completely unmanaged one, or o…

Quoted post unavailable.

And Bitcoin automagically fixes that?

How? Due to it being a PoW system?

Suddenly fraud is no longer possible? (It still is)

Money laundering is no longer possible? (It still is)

Inflation/Deflation save? (It still is)

So tell me, what is crypto fixing?

That instead of experts in the central bank the market itself just does what? Definitely nothing pro consumer.

There are reasons why banks get requirements from the state on how they need to run and it's most of the time for us consumer/small people.

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