Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not only did they split, they just forced all sellers to move from PayPal to direct deposit: https://gizmodo.com/ebay-and-paypal-finally-break-up-for-goo...
And in the small print, turning that on allows ebay to make withdrawals against your deposit account!
PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
141–150 of 196 posts
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#142So, what is the alternative for PayPal? I sell only small-time. I don't want to do Creditcard, no Stripe either (I don't have a registered company) and iDEAL is only working in the Netherlands. So what is the internet alternative for international selling. And, please, no crypto-currencies :) I am off to sleep, see you tomorrow.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#143News like this is proof that cryptocurrencies like Monero are necessary. It’s proof (not that we needed any) that centralized finance does not have your best interests at heart, and they can and will abuse their power.
Decentralised currencies just open up a whole new can of worms. How do you reverse fraudulent transactions? What happens if your wallet is stolen? Who do you speak to when you need help setting up an account? On a macroeconomic level, it prevents the government from setting certain types of monetary policy that benefit the economy as a whole (although I may be biased there, as the Australian government bailed out the…
How do you reverse paying someone with cash? You don't. You can ask for a refund and hope they give it to you. If you're transacting with a trusted business, you can expect them to adhere to the law and reverse the payment.
In this sense, crypto transactions are no different than how humans have transacted for thousands of years. Chargebacks and reversals are a convenience - they are not necessary.
> What happens if your wallet is stolen?
What happens when your wallet is stolen in real life? You lose the cash inside. So you keep most money secure in a cold wallet, airgapped and password-protected, and some money secure in a hot wallet, PIN-protected. Usually losing a hardware wallet isn't a big deal anyways, since they wipe themselves after a few PIN tries.
The UX around securing wallets will get better over time, but if you pick up a Ledger X today it's actually already quite easy to use.
> Who do you speak to when you need help setting up an account?
Just like using a wallet with cash in a secure manner took time to become cultural knowledge, using a hardware wallet with cryptocurrency will to. Obviously, there are places where it could become easier to use, but using a Ledger these days is already pretty damn easy. You just connect it to your phone via Bluetooth and you're ready to go.
> it prevents the government from setting certain types of monetary policy that benefit the economy as a whole
For some, lowering government control over your finances is a pro, not a con, but I can understand that this is up for debate.
> This is all assuming it's pegged to a stable asset like the USD.
I can agree with this, I think currently the price of cryptocurrency is volatile due to rampant speculation. Eventually it will settle into something stable, and if it doesn't, we can just use alogrithmic stablecoins like DAI that track the value of the dollar to within +/-1% and don't need to be backed by a central institution.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#144News like this is proof that cryptocurrencies like Monero are necessary. It’s proof (not that we needed any) that centralized finance does not have your best interests at heart, and they can and will abuse their power.
I know this is a popular belief but it’s actually the exact opposite… The reason PayPal holds funds is that a consumer is allowed to reverse a bank and credit card transaction for a few months after the transaction happened. This ability exists to protect consumers from fraudsters, scammers and bad businesses (ones that don’t provide service etc.) which is much more common than people realize. With crypto, the abilit…
For thousands of years humans have transacted with physical currency, in which transactions cannot be "reversed" once the payment is made. Even today, many people pay and transact with cash. Second-layer financial institutions provide holds, reversals, and chargebacks but they are by no means necessary for a robust financial system.
Too many times "protecting consumers" turns into "censoring transactions we don't like" and "restricting your financial freedom to maintain our brand image." (Case in point - sex work payments, even in countries where it is legal, can not be processed by any of the major payment processors. Brand image and all.)
Not to mention the privacy concerns that come with a central authority knowing all of your transactions - no thanks, I think I and many others would prefer an electronic cash-equivalent over PayPal.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yup. It’s worth checking out LocalMonero [1] and the Haveno DEX [2]. The former already works and lets you buy Monero without relying on a KYC exchange. [1] https://localmonero.co/ [2] https://github.com/haveno-dex/haveno
Thanks for sharing Haveno. Sounds like it's not a mature app though. I would recommend Bisq as a more refined alternative: https://bisq.network/
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#146Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#147News like this is proof that cryptocurrencies like Monero are necessary. It’s proof (not that we needed any) that centralized finance does not have your best interests at heart, and they can and will abuse their power.
Decentralised currencies just open up a whole new can of worms. How do you reverse fraudulent transactions? What happens if your wallet is stolen? Who do you speak to when you need help setting up an account? On a macroeconomic level, it prevents the government from setting certain types of monetary policy that benefit the economy as a whole (although I may be biased there, as the Australian government bailed out the…
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#148We turned off PayPal for certain countries, because the "buyer protection" found too often in an obviously fraudster favour. (reinjection of label into UPS network, forged label for return address etc. PayPal doesn't care as long as there is a tracking number... who cares where it goes to right?). Anyone who has ever had anything to do with PayPal as a Seller will tell you the same thing, as a buyer, always order wit…
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
Decentralised currencies just open up a whole new can of worms. How do you reverse fraudulent transactions? What happens if your wallet is stolen? Who do you speak to when you need help setting up an account? On a macroeconomic level, it prevents the government from setting certain types of monetary policy that benefit the economy as a whole (although I may be biased there, as the Australian government bailed out the…
> How do you reverse fraudulent transactions? How do you reverse paying someone with cash? You don't. You can ask for a refund and hope they give it to you. If you're transacting with a trusted business, you can expect them to adhere to the law and reverse the payment. In this sense, crypto transactions are no different than how humans have transacted for thousands of years. Chargebacks and reversals are a convenienc…
Exactly, that's why centralised systems with moneyback guarantees (PayPal, Stripe) exist for online payments where you can't see the goods in person - online fraud is still a concern in 2021.
>So you keep most money secure in a cold wallet, airgapped and password-protected, and some money secure in a hot wallet, PIN-protected.
I'll admit I'm not super familiar with crypto technology, but this cold wallet basically sounds similar to stashing your life savings under your mattress (or, at least, in a safe in your house). Nobody in their right mind would do this.
>Just like using a wallet with cash in a secure manner took time to become cultural knowledge, using a hardware wallet with cryptocurrency will to
Makes sense, honestly. Everyone understands credit cards/WeChat.
Regardless of the individual arguments, though, I think the overall point is whether or not the risk of being screwed over by the machinations of a giant corporation outweighs the risk of being screwed over in the "wild west" world of crypto. For the average person, I think (well-regulated) central institutions are the lesser of the two evils.
Re: PayPal shuts down long-time Tor supporter
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not only did they split, they just forced all sellers to move from PayPal to direct deposit: https://gizmodo.com/ebay-and-paypal-finally-break-up-for-goo...
This is what caused me to let me eBay seller account die - they demanded Social Security Number (SSN) to continue selling. Call me crazy but giving my SSN to a company where the C-suite thugs sent live cockroaches to bloggers for negative articles seems like a bad idea.