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Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

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61–70 of 106 posts

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#61
You definitely needs more than $8 Bil, but I would break it down to

- Create a verification platform tat verify Bio-metrics of the individuals, it can be do with blockchain too. Challenge: A lot will refuse due to concerns of having a db of every..single..person on earth that can be used in a lot of evil ways.

- Create your decentralized currency or use an existing one, you can't easily distribute that money going through the usual banking system with all policies around that, either sanctions to a whole country, or even within the country itself as some individuals have their bank account restricted to start with, so no banks. Challenge: all the challenges that comes with Defi crypto, and the challenges with the the fact that there are people who doesn't even know the crypto exists let alone using it, some don't even have access to technology at all.

- Create a referral-system-like where people are encouraged to bring in there friends, family, others in the villages, etc., that will spread the word faster and more efficient as you only need to convince few and they will be your ambassadors on the ground, but also they might take care of the no-access to tech (or lack of knowledge) with others. This also can be used to have a hybrid system where ambassador1 get paid for X individuals and then they pay in local currencies, need some sort of verification mechanism to ensure they actually get paid too.

I would say personally the biggest challenge is having a system/DB that contains every individual on earth.. that would be nearly impossible, and honestly, I don't think it is even a good idea to start with.

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#62
Proof of Humanity, the "third rail" of decentralized fintech innovation

https://www.proofofhumanity.id/

My design is basic: create new crypto account at birth and hash genome as key. Fund it day zero with the total lifetime allocation. In this example $1, but why not $1M hypothetically. Distributions are received as a timely allowance. And the principal can be borrowed against. But not put at any great risk. That's passed on to future generations and the cycle begins anew. ;)

The best solution I saw so far for the actual physical distributing is the bootstrapped peer-to-peer exchange that occurs everyday. Where local people find each other over the internet, meet, and connect their devices and accounts in person to swap digital crypto for paper fiat hand to hand. You can't top it. So how do you build trust in it? Raising the consciousness!

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#63
post #22

Worldcoin (cofounded by Sam Altman) is trying to do this. They plan to have contractors do eyeball scanning of everyone as identification.

And it worked just as we all expected: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/richardnieva/worldcoin-...

Note that it was months ago, now it's probably even worse with all scams being exposed and general downturn of the pyramid schemes.

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#65

At the risk of been downvoted: you cant. It is impossible. Even if you had $30 billion, and your goal was to guarantee the distribution of only $1 to everyone, it still wouldnt occur with all the excess. When you factor in corruption, fraud, inadequate infrastructure, and vague defining of the parameters. Just think of the edge cases to understand why this couldnt be achieved: 1. A subset of the population will ACTIV…

It would be interesting to estimate the millions of people in the world that are likely to be completely inaccessible and would never get a dollar.

For example, North Korea. The government would insist on running the distribution itself, and because they are always in dire need of foreign cash, most or all of it would be diverted to some other purpose.

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#67
post #9

"1. Create a website where I promise to send money if you send me your bank account -- doesn't sound shady at all." Strange for an American perhaps, not for an European, i give and receive payments to my bank account routinely thanks to my IBAN; and it's safe. p.s.: can you send money?

Yeah but you wouldn't just send it to a random offering you money - that's Nigerian prince territory.

I could publish it on my website for donations, what difference would it make?

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#68
post #63
post #22

Worldcoin (cofounded by Sam Altman) is trying to do this. They plan to have contractors do eyeball scanning of everyone as identification.

And it worked just as we all expected: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/richardnieva/worldcoin-... Note that it was months ago, now it's probably even worse with all scams being exposed and general downturn of the pyramid schemes.

I honestly don't get how people like Sam Altman still have any semblance of reputation after investing in that crap. Could something look any more transparently dystopian?

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#70

Not to seem unempathetic but that seems like a waste of $8B that could be put to some good. For most recipients that $1 will amount to no difference. Interesting as a logistics exercise.

The most sensible option is offering anyone who gives you not their bank account, but a number like the Mexican CLABE or the European IBAN, which are safe to receive money. This implies that you will need to transfer some of that money to different countries, losing part of it to commissions.

Even you had enough money to cover administrative expenses, people with more than one bank account, or the ability to generate more of these numbers, will get more than one dollar. And don't even think about crypto, that would only add another layer of abstraction to the donation.

As PC says, it's best to direct that money towards maximum impact, than diluting its effect among everyone.

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