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India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

reuters.com

201–210 of 244 posts

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inflation isn't bad. Most of the world doesn't suffer from hyper-inflation. Decentralized finance doesn't provide a tremendous benefit over a trusted third party. High volatility and high transaction cost makes it a poor choice for a currency. Most of the worlds economy already runs on digital transactions without the need for crypto. There are plenty of reasons why crypto doesn't make sense and it is perfectly ratio…

Inflation is bad. Hyperinflation is worse. Reported CPI does not reflect actual inflation. One just needs to look at asset prices, stock prices, etc to see what is happening. You and everyone else is being robbed, every day, and it gets worse... I strongly suggest you look into why people would want "censorship resistant, decentralized, non-state, peer to peer currencies". The existing financial system doesn't make s…

I want a stable currency that is easy and cheap to transact. All that other stuff is just idealism.

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who exactly will be making money? Bitcoin is already extremely illiquid, regulation like this will make it even more illiquid. What a ludicrous take.

>Who exactly will be making money? The holders obviously. Bitcoin allows any Indian with a cellphone to easily exploit global arbitrage opportunities (BTC/INR and */INR to / ) , bypass capital controls, and save money in a medium that the Indian government cannot debase. At least a few million people (especially the international traveler class) will find these characteristics extremely valuable whatever the status o…

Forgive me for being skeptical, but I’ve never seen Bitcoin used as a medium of exchange. You could argue it’s a store of value, but that’s also contentious. In the last year, it’s back to its original price. So much for being an inflation hedge.

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your point boils down to "but it will be illegal." The point you're responding to that you missed was "it doesn't matter if it is illegal, people will do it." All of those are just examples of ways to avoid getting caught. They're not solutions to it being illegal, they're solutions to getting caught.

I think there’s a distinction between “people will do it even tho its illegal” and “illegality prevents mass adoption” - the government still achieves its goals if the only opportunities to transact with crypto are mired in legal risk.

"Mass adoption" is a buzzword that means "a lot of people use it." In it's purest form it means everyone uses it, but that's not absolutely necessary to consider it widely used.

There are plenty of things in ubiquitous use that are illegal in some places, or even most places. Alcohol is ubiquitous, guns are everywhere, gambling, cocaine and marijuana come to mind, people modify their cars beyond legality quite often. Lots of people do illegal financial activity as well, most people transact under the table when the opportunity arises. You can have a scenario where cryptocurrencies are widely used even in places that ban them but are so ubiquitous that enforcement is untenable.

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#204
post #189
post #144

The discussions around crypto here kind of proves that you cannot use popular opinion in HN to predict the future. People were very negative (and still are) about crypto. Market cap kept proving them wrong year after year and we are here with around $2.6 Trillion and yet people here still think crypto is going to die. It's interesting because in startups, you learn from the first day that you should listen to custome…

> Most of the world suffers from hyper-inflation at worst and inflation at best. Not everyone lives in the USA/Europe and has access to good banking and investment options. Real question - you mention earlier to "follow the demand". Is there evidence that demand for crypto is coming from countries with unstable banking?

Yes. Page 7 in the document.

https://think.ing.com/uploads/reports/IIS_New_Tech_Cryptocur...

The more unstable the country, or higher inflation - the higher penetration.

I'm surprised people still ask these questions. It this not painfully obvious?

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#205
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inflation is bad. Hyperinflation is worse. Reported CPI does not reflect actual inflation. One just needs to look at asset prices, stock prices, etc to see what is happening. You and everyone else is being robbed, every day, and it gets worse... I strongly suggest you look into why people would want "censorship resistant, decentralized, non-state, peer to peer currencies". The existing financial system doesn't make s…

Actually a low and predictable rate of inflation is good for the economy. https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2020/08/understanding-inflation/

What else would you expect a bank with an inflation mandate to say?

"sorry we are criminals, but it's for the best"?

You could try to pick a source that's at least not entirely biased.

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inflation is bad. Hyperinflation is worse. Reported CPI does not reflect actual inflation. One just needs to look at asset prices, stock prices, etc to see what is happening. You and everyone else is being robbed, every day, and it gets worse... I strongly suggest you look into why people would want "censorship resistant, decentralized, non-state, peer to peer currencies". The existing financial system doesn't make s…

I want a stable currency that is easy and cheap to transact. All that other stuff is just idealism.

Do you have any investments in bonds?

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#207
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not hyperbolic at all. CBDCs are a permissioned private ledger controlled by the central bank. The central bank controls what addresses are allowed to transact and have access to every transaction. If they dont like what you are spending your money on you are no longer allowed to transact. If they think you have too much money they can just take it. https://youtu.be/UW9LbfuCTP0

How is that in any way different than today's bank accounts, besides removing a largely useless intermediary ( a retail bank)?

It's different like this:

"Citizen, too much meat eating this week. Your CBDC non-cash is now suspended until you lose 10 pounds"

Re: India seeks to block most cryptocurrencies in new bill, government says

#209
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not hyperbolic at all. CBDCs are a permissioned private ledger controlled by the central bank. The central bank controls what addresses are allowed to transact and have access to every transaction. If they dont like what you are spending your money on you are no longer allowed to transact. If they think you have too much money they can just take it. https://youtu.be/UW9LbfuCTP0

How is that in any way different than today's bank accounts, besides removing a largely useless intermediary ( a retail bank)?

Because it allows them to enforce policies on where and how you spend your money. In an authoritarian regime this can be abused pretty badly.
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