My question is, which real-world problem is actually solved by crypto? All I know is transferring money over the border gets much easier than pre-bitcoin era.
Regulatory overreach, for one.
I wasted years of my life in crypto
331–340 of 1001 posts
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#332Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why should the method of payment solve that problem? A reputation system for sellers and service providers makes more sense to be entirely separate.
except currently the main usecases for cryptocoins are to buy illicit goods and services online. I remember when OpenBazaar was a thing. It even somehow managed to get an iOS app despite it being ridiculously easy to find listings for lbs of cocaine
Ya, I'm not a big fan of that use case, and I agree it's a problem. But I hold Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation. It tends to do better than gold, and is way easier to transact and store.
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#333Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment assumes that the purpose of an economic system is to preserve a financial status quo. It isn't, and shouldn't be. Inflation incentivizes people to put their money to productive uses in the economy (capital formation) rather than hoarding resources.
The purposes of money are: - store of value - unit of account (a measuring stick for value) - medium of exchange Allowing the financial system to inflate the money supply destroys two of those fundamental qualities. The fact it can additionally charge interest on the money funnels the stolen value into its hands. Interest on money loaned out is the only incentive required for putting money to "productive uses". Nothi…
Bitcoin was envisioned by its creator to be used as a currency. To buy and sell stuff using it. If you ask today what is bitcoin you'll be told that it is a store of value. The purpose of money is not to be a store of value. It can be, but that is not its purpose which the case of bitcoin clearly illustrates.
> Interest on money loaned out is the only incentive required for putting money to "productive uses".
And what is the incentive to loan money in your system?
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#334I've never understood the initial arguments about Bitcoin, no matter how many times they've been explained to me. The block chain is, and always was, an extremely inconvenient database. How anyone, especially many intelligent people, thought it was realistic to graft a currency on top of such a unwieldy piece of technology is beyond me. Maybe it goes to show how few people understand economics and anthropology and ho…
To understand the initial arguments, look no further than the Genesis block, which includes this text: The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks In many rich countries, all signs point to nasty inflation for the foreseeable future. Bitcoin is inflation-proof because there is no central bank that can print more Bitcoin. Having a secure system with that property means accepting some tradeoff…
but there's no compounding interest. no dividend based on future cashflows.
holding stocks of a diverse index seems better on the long run, no?
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#335https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/01/31/end.html#section... Vitalik touched upon this briefly in an other-wise long and wide-reaching essay. I think its a good treatment of the topic that the author is talking about. He categorizes the ecosystem broadly into 4 cohorts- [token holders] (which includes investors, speculators, etc.), [pragmatic users] (actual end-users who spend crypto to buy stuff), [intellectuals]…
In a casino you have
- The gamblers spending a lot on the casino
- The people coming in for the fun and spending little money
- The owners/C-levels
- The operational team
Someone from the operational team just learned that business relies only on the first group to be successful.
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#336Earlier quoted context omitted.
What should the average citizen of that country do in that case?
Cooperate with their fellow citizens and fix their banking system, rather than trying to grab as much as possible for themselves?
>Cooperate with their fellow citizens and fix their banking system
That's exactly what Bitcoin was for.
I don't know where you live, but most places it's the banking system which fixes the citizens, not the other way around.
Only way I imagine being able to fix a bank is with a brick through the window. It's why one level up from where I'm at banks are closing their physical locations, keep no cash, and only have people for 1-2 hours in the morning when only the most obedient are awake and not occupied.
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#337Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am a dual citizen. I wanted to buy a condo near my parents where I spend my summers with my family. I have never in my entire life felt like a criminal more than trying to buy something, with the money I made with my wife, going through regular financial system. after weeks of feeling like a criminal over coffee with my cousin who owns the company that was selling me the condo I was like “can I just fucking give yo…
If your funds are clean there is zero reason for the (unfounded) anxiety. Just follow through the motion. A local agent on a flat fee will probably make things easier.
I bought a vehicle early this year. In the UK we have supposedly instant BACs transfers.
However because opaque anti-fraud stuff, that I am not informed about, I was stuck in the middle of a field trying to convince someone in a call centre that the car I could see with my own eyes (and I had done all the appropriate checks) does indeed exist. This whole process took almost an hour because their anti-fraud team has a two hour response time.
There are obstacles in the banking system that make doing legal transactions difficult.
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#338I've never understood the initial arguments about Bitcoin, no matter how many times they've been explained to me. The block chain is, and always was, an extremely inconvenient database. How anyone, especially many intelligent people, thought it was realistic to graft a currency on top of such a unwieldy piece of technology is beyond me. Maybe it goes to show how few people understand economics and anthropology and ho…
Because... Nothing else achieves that? Besides a centralised database, which is extremely vulnerable to censorship - as seen when Visa blocked Steam from selling porn games.
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#339My question is, which real-world problem is actually solved by crypto? All I know is transferring money over the border gets much easier than pre-bitcoin era.
There is a lot of money "wasted" on intermediaries due to the closed nature of the global financial system e.g. 3-5% fees for updating a row in a database.
Besides those it allows other novel products that traditionally required trusted entities:
- p2p lending
- reputation systems
- p2p insurance
Also we have things like Open Banking i.e. sending money instantly for free which banks started implementing in 2015, one year after Ethereum mainnet went live which suddenly allowed people to send fiat money instantly and (almost) free. Banks and fintech companies having competition is a good thing for consumers.
Re: I wasted years of my life in crypto
#340Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's an ingenious solution to achieve a "trustless" currency that prevents double-spending without a central authority. Unfortunately, this solves the wrong problem. Spending money usually involves getting a good or service in return, which inherently requires "trust" (as does any human interaction). Your fancy blockchain is not going to help you if you order something with Bitcoin and no package arrives.
The issue isn't that it solves the wrong problem. The issue is that crypto boosters (including a few already here) claim it solves a whole host of other problems without thinking things through, kind of like some communists. Then if you argue enough they'll point out that things can be fixed ... but bitcoin is now indistinguishable from any other currency, other than its payment system that will no longer be widely u…
Ultra-capitalist libertarians are communists... riiiiiight...
btw I was banned from r/bitcoin Discord for saying that exchanges are banks.