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Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

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Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#31

Post by iWillOffshoreU »

jjulius wrote: post #28
mintyDijon wrote: post #24

Monero is cryptocurrency, this article is just venting from someone who buys into scams. Crypto matters because privacy matters, and privacy needs decentralization. -edit- Just to add clarity, decentralization is necessary becasue inevitably the people we need to hide from, are the same ones in control of the system.

You're suggesting that, in order to hide from people, we use a financial system where every single transaction is publicly recorded and available for all to see?

You should google monero first because that's the opposite of what it does.

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#32

Post by [deleted] »

ncmncm wrote: post #21
qeternity wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> users would have greater ownership of their rewards, and they could be traded in secondary markets. Airlines do not want this. It's explicitly forbidden in their TOS. It has nothing to do with blockchain/web3.

Entire lack of ownership is the whole point of points. If they wanted you to have something you could own, you would get dollars .

[deleted]

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#33

Post by joneholland »

ramphastidae wrote: post #8

> Can we just talk about the fact that airlines have private coins but they just call them points or miles? Or what about this thing that everyone hates inside of video games that is just passing money to power points or gold coins, or jewels, etc. Or even casinos with stablecoins that are just called chips. This is actually very interesting and one of the first times I have heard of practical uses of crypto. If cred…

People bring this up all the time because they see the consumer utility of an open marketplace for loyalty systems but fail to realize that the open marketplace breaks the economics of the program and makes it not worth it to the issuer.

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#34

Post by jungturk »

ThunderSizzle wrote: post #22
ncmncm wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entire lack of ownership is the whole point of points. If they wanted you to have something you could own, you would get dollars .

Which is why cash back cards are very nice. Because your points are a static amount of cash that you should regularly convert.

Definitely a more flexible option, but you might trade overall value for that flexibility (in the sense that you can frequently use accrued points for more value than the cash).

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#35

Post by dminor »

ramphastidae wrote: post #8

> Can we just talk about the fact that airlines have private coins but they just call them points or miles? Or what about this thing that everyone hates inside of video games that is just passing money to power points or gold coins, or jewels, etc. Or even casinos with stablecoins that are just called chips. This is actually very interesting and one of the first times I have heard of practical uses of crypto. If cred…

It exists: https://flycoin.org/

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#36

Post by joneholland »

dminor wrote: post #35
ramphastidae wrote: post #8

> Can we just talk about the fact that airlines have private coins but they just call them points or miles? Or what about this thing that everyone hates inside of video games that is just passing money to power points or gold coins, or jewels, etc. Or even casinos with stablecoins that are just called chips. This is actually very interesting and one of the first times I have heard of practical uses of crypto. If cred…

It exists: https://flycoin.org/

One participating airline that is a tiny regional carrier in Alaska.

Yeah it exists alright.

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#37

Post by mikestew »

jungturk wrote: post #34
ThunderSizzle wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why cash back cards are very nice. Because your points are a static amount of cash that you should regularly convert.

Definitely a more flexible option, but you might trade overall value for that flexibility (in the sense that you can frequently use accrued points for more value than the cash).

Or you might not, if the only choices are to buy stuff from their shitty Company Store, or convert to airline miles. I don’t need more stuff, and we don’t fly much. There seems to often be an option to convert to cash, but that’s usually a penalty choice. So we dumped the points card(s), and mostly use the Apple Card, which is just straight X% cash.

Regardless, if I’m going to play “maximize value of effort expended”, I’ll fire up the Xbox and play an RPG. I’ll get a lot more pleasure out of that than playing with credit cards. OTOH, plenty of folks might consider Octopath Traveller a waste of time, so to each their own.

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#38

Post by tornato7 »

KyeRussell wrote: post #27
tornato7 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one use of crypto that I really want to come to fruition. Imagine being able to trade your Delta Skymiles for Kohl’s Cash on Uniswap instantly and for 30bps in fees. It would finally make all these random rewards programs worthwhile.

If organisations offering reward programs wanted this they would do it regardless of the existence of blockchain technology. The point is that they don’t, it goes against the point of the programs in the first place. This is the utter insanity of crypto pipe dreams. They do not necessitate blockchain, and blockchain is rarely the most technically suitable means of implementation. The issues are real-world power dynam…

Assuming that organizations did want to do this, I would argue that a public blockchain is the most technically suitable solution. I can write up and deploy a new token contract in a few hours and it will be instantly tradable with thousands of other assets on-chain. Compare that to building and hosting your own systems, integrating with dozens of payment methods, and somehow linking up with the interfaces of every other rewards program out there.

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#39

Post by fknorangesite »

yesenadam wrote: post #17
duskwuff wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just lovely names like "degenerate." The use of this term as an insult has some especially nasty history behind it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_art

Degenerate and base art thou. – Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona , Act 5, Scene 4

What are you trying to say here?

Re: Why are we calling it crypto? Just call them private coins

#40

Post by lern_too_spel »

tornato7 wrote: post #38
KyeRussell wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If organisations offering reward programs wanted this they would do it regardless of the existence of blockchain technology. The point is that they don’t, it goes against the point of the programs in the first place. This is the utter insanity of crypto pipe dreams. They do not necessitate blockchain, and blockchain is rarely the most technically suitable means of implementation. The issues are real-world power dynam…

Assuming that organizations did want to do this, I would argue that a public blockchain is the most technically suitable solution. I can write up and deploy a new token contract in a few hours and it will be instantly tradable with thousands of other assets on-chain. Compare that to building and hosting your own systems, integrating with dozens of payment methods, and somehow linking up with the interfaces of every o…

If they wanted to do this, they would give you cash back, which is accepted anywhere. If merchants want to incentivize you to use your cash back "points" at their store, they would give you a discount on the card.

Guess what? This already happens! And without the waste of a decentralized ledger.

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