3 ms·
The overwhelming use case for cryptos is speculation. Drugs and ransomware are a distant second and third. (Not sure which is winning at the moment - lotta dark
by davidgerard 9y ago
The overwhelming use case for cryptos is speculation. Drugs and ransomware are a distant second and third. (Not sure which is winning at the moment - lotta darknet markets are down right now, and users are increasingly just not paying ransomware. Of course, solid data on any of this is hard to come by, even as I try to follow it closely ...)
So the question would be "which is most useful for speculation?" You'd need to think about exchanges, exchangeability (to other cryptos or to actualmoney), liquidity, how manipulable the price is (which could be an advantage or disadvantage for these purposes) ...
- zorked 9y agoWhile I don't disagree that speculation is the primary use case, I think the criminal side is way overstated. I use Bitcoin monthly to pay bills in my origin country, and I do it because the banks there suck and transfering money is bureaucratic and online access basically doesn't work from abroad (you get frequently blocked due to "suspicious access" and told to unblock "at a nearby ATM"). Nobody writes articles about people like me because that story doesn't attract clicks.