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Not at all saying that it's not the kick in the pants the governments of the world need. In fact it's probably exactly what they need. I think it's absolutely

Not at all saying that it's not the kick in the pants the governments of the world need. In fact it's probably exactly what they need. I think it's absolutely insane that in today's world we can't freely exchange currency world wide without being charged exorbitant fees. I think the first stable government that promises this to the world (probably at first via country to country agreements) is going to see their value spike (in relative terms). Not exactly sure where this would ultimately leave Bitcoin...

3131s 9y ago
> I think it's absolutely insane that in today's world we can't freely exchange currency world wide without being charged exorbitant fees. So true. Where I am now the best option for sending / receiving money to the US is either a 50$ wire transfer, or Western Union gouging you to death. Even Paypal is not available here, and the ATM fees add up. It definitely hurts the people of poorer countries immensely to have a middleman in between all international payments. I imagine the typical case is people sending money back home to family members.
fapjacks 9y ago
A possible trajectory that might eventually meet your prediction is the "e-residency" of Estonia [0]. Estonia is busy creating a kind of "digital citizenship" program which is pretty clearly aimed at attracting innovators and startups. If you haven't looked into it, it's worth a few minutes of your time just as an interesting thing happening. [0] https://e-resident.gov.ee https://e-resident.gov.ee
nl 9y ago
I don't understand what you are saying. Governments don't charge money to change currency. That is done by private companies which charge a fee for it, in the same way blockchain exchanges charge a fee to trade between blockchain currencies. I agree the currency exchange fees are higher than they should be, but... if you think that's a big need it isn't too hard to start a company to compete and lower the fees. That's what XE.com did for example. I'm confused what you think a government should do?
- chii 9y ago
  I think there should be one world gov't, with one single currency, and a unified monetary policy. People who do arbitrage of currency are simply a less efficient version of a unified world currency anway.
  - firethief 9y ago
    If you aren't trolling, you could do with a little macroeconomics study before you rearchitect the world. It's not as intuitive as it seems.
- perpetualcrayon 9y ago
  You are probably right. Governments and financial institutions are separate entities. And the process of starting up a compliant financial institution to compete against entrenched interests is almost frictionless.
  - nl 9y ago
    You cynicism and attacks on an easy target doesn't make your point any clearer. The fact is plenty of companies have setup as currency exchanges.
    - perpetualcrayon 9y ago
      The fact that you assume my comment was cynical proves I've made my point perfectly well.

3131s 9y ago

> I think it's absolutely insane that in today's world we can't freely exchange currency world wide without being charged exorbitant fees. So true. Where I am now the best option for sending / receiving money to the US is either a 50$ wire transfer, or Western Union gouging you to death. Even Paypal is not available here, and the ATM fees add up. It definitely hurts the people of poorer countries immensely to have a middleman in between all international payments. I imagine the typical case is people sending money back home to family members.

fapjacks 9y ago

A possible trajectory that might eventually meet your prediction is the "e-residency" of Estonia [0]. Estonia is busy creating a kind of "digital citizenship" program which is pretty clearly aimed at attracting innovators and startups. If you haven't looked into it, it's worth a few minutes of your time just as an interesting thing happening. [0] https://e-resident.gov.ee https://e-resident.gov.ee

nl 9y ago

I don't understand what you are saying. Governments don't charge money to change currency. That is done by private companies which charge a fee for it, in the same way blockchain exchanges charge a fee to trade between blockchain currencies. I agree the currency exchange fees are higher than they should be, but... if you think that's a big need it isn't too hard to start a company to compete and lower the fees. That's what XE.com did for example. I'm confused what you think a government should do?

chii 9y ago
I think there should be one world gov't, with one single currency, and a unified monetary policy. People who do arbitrage of currency are simply a less efficient version of a unified world currency anway.
- firethief 9y ago
  If you aren't trolling, you could do with a little macroeconomics study before you rearchitect the world. It's not as intuitive as it seems.
perpetualcrayon 9y ago
You are probably right. Governments and financial institutions are separate entities. And the process of starting up a compliant financial institution to compete against entrenched interests is almost frictionless.
- nl 9y ago
  You cynicism and attacks on an easy target doesn't make your point any clearer. The fact is plenty of companies have setup as currency exchanges.
  - perpetualcrayon 9y ago
    The fact that you assume my comment was cynical proves I've made my point perfectly well.