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>a digital payment system Existing cryptocurrencies already perform this function well. If that's the sole claimed advantage of Taler, it's a step backwards.
by pervycreeper 11y ago
>a digital payment system
Existing cryptocurrencies already perform this function well. If that's the sole claimed advantage of Taler, it's a step backwards.
- saalweachter 11y agoCryptocurrencies (by which I mean, Bitcoin, since it is the one with significant adoption) perform this function, but not particularly well. For a payment system, being a currency is a negative -- fluctuations between the value of the digital currency and the value of the currency goods are priced in is a headache few people enjoy. A payment system that is set up as a payment system -- instead of a decentralized trustless network -- can also better optimize things like transaction time (transactions can happen ~instantly if you're willing to trust central agencies) or having a known transaction cost. Right now Bitcoin's transaction cost is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -- some combination of inflation from printing money to pay the miners and direct payments to the miners per transaction and payments to the exchanges to put cash in or take cash out and the risk of currency fluctuations mid-transaction. Regardless of whether it costs a little more or a little less, just knowing the transaction cost is a huge benefit to consumers and merchants.