4 ms·

How does it change the world?

by evanlivingston 9y ago

majewsky 9y ago
Climate change, I guess? :D
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
mrb 9y ago
Just a few examples: A Brazilian man used Bitcoin to evade a judge's extortion attempt: https://coinvedi.com/brazilian-man-uses-bitcoin-to-evade-judges-extortion/amp/ https://coinvedi.com/brazilian-man-uses-bitcoin-to-evade-jud... Bitcoin would have helped Cyprus citizens avoid banks confiscating their savings: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-10/new-laws-allow-government-seize-savings-deposits-during-crisis http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-10/new-laws-allow-gove... Businesses use Bitcoin to avoid fraud, like this $100,000 charged backs twice: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5r9nqi/credit_card_chargebacks_for_100000_dollars/ https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5r9nqi/credit_... Bitcoin helps people continue to do business online, eg. when alternative PayPal exited an entire country: http://www.wsj.com/articles/paypal-to-exit-turkey-after-regulator-denies-payments-license-1464720574 http://www.wsj.com/articles/paypal-to-exit-turkey-after-regu... Bitcoin helps people have ultimate control on their money, unlike cash when for example a bank blocks a woman from accessing her account: http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/151623037-story http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/151623037-story Bitcoin helps people escape abuse from the DEA using civil forfeiture, eg. when they stole $16,000 from a young black man: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/dea-asset-forfeiture-joseph-rivers_n_7231744.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/dea-asset-forfeitur... More recently, Bitcoin becomes a safe haven when the military executes a coup: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/11/20/bitcoin-has-become-zimbabwes-crisis-currency/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/11/20/bitcoin-has... And hundreds and thousands of other examples...
- annabellish 9y ago
  Most of these are just examples of bad things happening with zero explanation of how bitcoin could help. The ones which are to do with bitcoin are dubious at best.
  - mrb 9y ago
    I thought it was obvious how Bitcoin helped and didn't to explain... So it helps because it functions like cash: bitcoins are held digitally in your wallet and no one can stop you from transacting with them, unlike an account at a bank or payment processor that can be seized or frozen.
    - qplex 9y ago
      It's not at all that obvious. Bitcoin is _not_ like actual physical localized nation-state backed cash, nor does it function like one. In your list of examples Bitcoin is the hero that saves individuals from the oppression of a government or regulation, but sometimes it's the bad individuals (e.g. tax evasion) against a government and suddenly it's not so bad if there are ways to seize assets and close their accounts.
      - braziliaagorist 9y ago
        Well, only if you think that tax evasion is a bad thing.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)
      - mrb 9y ago
        Wrong. Bitcoin is literally digital cash: it is held in your wallet and transacted directly from wallet to wallet. There is no third-party intermediary (like a bank or credit card processor) whose authorization is needed to make a transaction. This is what makes it cash-like.
        qplex 9y ago
        >no third-party intermediary ... whose authorization is needed to make a transaction. This is what makes it cash-like. You need to get your transactions accepted to the ledger and you need to pay for that to happen as well (I guess whether the mining network is a third party is debatable). Not mentioning that people will most likely use some sort of intermediary for their digital wallet to begin with.
- thomasfortes 9y ago
  "Extortion" attempt, the guy was fined for slander and libel, obviously, a pro-cryptocurrency site would not say that, and painted as if the video was only "criticism" of the candidate. He was ordered to remove a video from his channel where he practices slander and libel (both crimes in Brazil) against a congresswoman, he refused, the judge ordered the fine, he traded all his money to bitcoin to avoid the execution of the fine. I wouldn't call it a extortion attempt, if you see his videos you'll see that he openly mocks the justice and expose details of the case that was occurring under "secret of justice", where the parts can't talk about it until it is finished. You can disagree with the decision, but it wasn't extortion, he practiced slander and libel, was ordered to remove a video, refused, was fined for that.
  - wolco 9y ago
    In Brazil the powerful can use the justice system to protect themselves. If everyone who posted a for or against Trump video was judged by the same standard most would be guilt of libel. By moving the fiat money into bitcoin he moved them out of the judgde's control. That in itself proves the usefulness of the coin.
    - thomasfortes 9y ago
      I don't know about you, but calling someone a whore falls into slander to me, yeah, the justice favours the riches, not a Brazil exclusive. But even then, this isn't the point. The guy lives in Brazil, so USA laws are completely irrelevant, don't know why you brought up this point, but anyway, he commited a crime, defied a court order and hid his assets, besides that, he boasted that on following videos, in one of them he claimed that slander should be legal, his opinion, perfectly valid, I don't agree, but he did that just because HE knows that he commited slander. The guy is a piece of work, defending him like he is a noble fighting the big and evil hand of the government is a joke that only ancaps don't laugh at.
      - braziliaagorist 9y ago
        He didn't called her "a whore", he called a "vagabunda" which can mean either "whore" or "lazy person who doesn't work", he explicitly said in the video that he meant the second option. Anyway, bitcoin is a libertarian/ancap tool and strategy created to minimize the power of the state, and most of us libertarians believe there are inalienable rights that cannot be superseded by state laws, and this includes freedom of expression. If you are against libertarianism than you should be really afraid of bitcoin, because it was made as a tool to subjugate the state, to evade tax and fuck up with commies. And it's working.
- tdb7893 9y ago
  There's also a similar amount of stories (or honestly probably greater with all the frauds, hacks, and drug deals) where bitcoin has done bad things but I guess that also proves the point that it has changed the world.
rsynnott 9y ago
Makes it easier to buy drugs on the internet, I suppose? Though that’s beginning to migrate to monero and various other things, I think... Provides one of the world’s greatest supplies of irritating quasi-libertarian euphoria, as well, of course.

How does it change the world?

majewsky 9y ago

Climate change, I guess? :D

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

mrb 9y ago

Just a few examples: A Brazilian man used Bitcoin to evade a judge's extortion attempt: https://coinvedi.com/brazilian-man-uses-bitcoin-to-evade-judges-extortion/amp/ https://coinvedi.com/brazilian-man-uses-bitcoin-to-evade-jud... Bitcoin would have helped Cyprus citizens avoid banks confiscating their savings: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-10/new-laws-allow-government-seize-savings-deposits-during-crisis http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-10/new-laws-allow-gove... Businesses use Bitcoin to avoid fraud, like this $100,000 charged backs twice: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5r9nqi/credit_card_chargebacks_for_100000_dollars/ https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5r9nqi/credit_... Bitcoin helps people continue to do business online, eg. when alternative PayPal exited an entire country: http://www.wsj.com/articles/paypal-to-exit-turkey-after-regulator-denies-payments-license-1464720574 http://www.wsj.com/articles/paypal-to-exit-turkey-after-regu... Bitcoin helps people have ultimate control on their money, unlike cash when for example a bank blocks a woman from accessing her account: http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/151623037-story http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/151623037-story Bitcoin helps people escape abuse from the DEA using civil forfeiture, eg. when they stole $16,000 from a young black man: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/dea-asset-forfeiture-joseph-rivers_n_7231744.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/dea-asset-forfeitur... More recently, Bitcoin becomes a safe haven when the military executes a coup: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/11/20/bitcoin-has-become-zimbabwes-crisis-currency/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/11/20/bitcoin-has... And hundreds and thousands of other examples...

annabellish 9y ago
Most of these are just examples of bad things happening with zero explanation of how bitcoin could help. The ones which are to do with bitcoin are dubious at best.
- mrb 9y ago
  I thought it was obvious how Bitcoin helped and didn't to explain... So it helps because it functions like cash: bitcoins are held digitally in your wallet and no one can stop you from transacting with them, unlike an account at a bank or payment processor that can be seized or frozen.
  - qplex 9y ago
    It's not at all that obvious. Bitcoin is _not_ like actual physical localized nation-state backed cash, nor does it function like one. In your list of examples Bitcoin is the hero that saves individuals from the oppression of a government or regulation, but sometimes it's the bad individuals (e.g. tax evasion) against a government and suddenly it's not so bad if there are ways to seize assets and close their accounts.
    - braziliaagorist 9y ago
      Well, only if you think that tax evasion is a bad thing.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)
    - mrb 9y ago
      Wrong. Bitcoin is literally digital cash: it is held in your wallet and transacted directly from wallet to wallet. There is no third-party intermediary (like a bank or credit card processor) whose authorization is needed to make a transaction. This is what makes it cash-like.
      - qplex 9y ago
        >no third-party intermediary ... whose authorization is needed to make a transaction. This is what makes it cash-like. You need to get your transactions accepted to the ledger and you need to pay for that to happen as well (I guess whether the mining network is a third party is debatable). Not mentioning that people will most likely use some sort of intermediary for their digital wallet to begin with.
thomasfortes 9y ago
"Extortion" attempt, the guy was fined for slander and libel, obviously, a pro-cryptocurrency site would not say that, and painted as if the video was only "criticism" of the candidate. He was ordered to remove a video from his channel where he practices slander and libel (both crimes in Brazil) against a congresswoman, he refused, the judge ordered the fine, he traded all his money to bitcoin to avoid the execution of the fine. I wouldn't call it a extortion attempt, if you see his videos you'll see that he openly mocks the justice and expose details of the case that was occurring under "secret of justice", where the parts can't talk about it until it is finished. You can disagree with the decision, but it wasn't extortion, he practiced slander and libel, was ordered to remove a video, refused, was fined for that.
- wolco 9y ago
  In Brazil the powerful can use the justice system to protect themselves. If everyone who posted a for or against Trump video was judged by the same standard most would be guilt of libel. By moving the fiat money into bitcoin he moved them out of the judgde's control. That in itself proves the usefulness of the coin.
  - thomasfortes 9y ago
    I don't know about you, but calling someone a whore falls into slander to me, yeah, the justice favours the riches, not a Brazil exclusive. But even then, this isn't the point. The guy lives in Brazil, so USA laws are completely irrelevant, don't know why you brought up this point, but anyway, he commited a crime, defied a court order and hid his assets, besides that, he boasted that on following videos, in one of them he claimed that slander should be legal, his opinion, perfectly valid, I don't agree, but he did that just because HE knows that he commited slander. The guy is a piece of work, defending him like he is a noble fighting the big and evil hand of the government is a joke that only ancaps don't laugh at.
    - braziliaagorist 9y ago
      He didn't called her "a whore", he called a "vagabunda" which can mean either "whore" or "lazy person who doesn't work", he explicitly said in the video that he meant the second option. Anyway, bitcoin is a libertarian/ancap tool and strategy created to minimize the power of the state, and most of us libertarians believe there are inalienable rights that cannot be superseded by state laws, and this includes freedom of expression. If you are against libertarianism than you should be really afraid of bitcoin, because it was made as a tool to subjugate the state, to evade tax and fuck up with commies. And it's working.
tdb7893 9y ago
There's also a similar amount of stories (or honestly probably greater with all the frauds, hacks, and drug deals) where bitcoin has done bad things but I guess that also proves the point that it has changed the world.

rsynnott 9y ago

Makes it easier to buy drugs on the internet, I suppose? Though that’s beginning to migrate to monero and various other things, I think... Provides one of the world’s greatest supplies of irritating quasi-libertarian euphoria, as well, of course.