4 ms·

If it wasn't for all the speculation and grotesque scams surrounding it could actually be useful as a decentralized currency. But we can't have nice things.

ianai 9y ago
This might be a learning moment. Without government, aka anarchy, society would quickly devolve into bitter, cruel chaos.
- unknown_apostle 9y ago
  Long ago given up on cryptocurrency, at least as long as current technical problems exist. But that without government we'd devolve into "bitter, cruel chaos" is definitely not a lesson. That's "not even wrong" level stuff.
  - ianai 9y ago
    Alright, you want me and the majority of society to take cryptocurrency seriously? Find a way to disallow or at least police illicit uses of it. Until you do that, I refuse to even entertain the idea that it’s a valuable asset and certainly not currency. This is not a technical challenge I’m making. This is a political demand. You would also still have to prove it’s more efficient and has a smaller carbon and energy footprint than traditional currency.
    - sokoloff 9y ago
      Have we effectively disallowed or policed the illicit use of $100 bills for drugs, weapons, or other trade? I agree with you that cryptocurrency is not currently particularly intrinsically useful, but I don't believe that "let everyone use it in a decentralized tamper-proof manner" fundamentally requires "and simultaneously restrict it from the following uses, which a subset of the global population deems undesirable". (In that regard, it's similar to "regular" crypto. I don't mind that people I don't particularly like are also able to use crypto to secure their communications. It's essential to my use case that they not be able to intercept my comms, and I accept in return that I can't intercept their comms either.)
      - ianai 9y ago
        There are genuine attempts made to police those uses. In the case of USD, the US enjoys being the default global currency. That bad actors also use it is more of a side note alongside everyone using it.
- mjlangiii 9y ago
  What about cultures that didn't have centralized government like native Americans?
  - TheSoftwareGuy 9y ago
    They had various forms of government, depending on which particular tribe you are thinking of. Many had a theocracy, and some, like the Iroquois were part of a federation.

ianai 9y ago

This might be a learning moment. Without government, aka anarchy, society would quickly devolve into bitter, cruel chaos.

unknown_apostle 9y ago
Long ago given up on cryptocurrency, at least as long as current technical problems exist. But that without government we'd devolve into "bitter, cruel chaos" is definitely not a lesson. That's "not even wrong" level stuff.
- ianai 9y ago
  Alright, you want me and the majority of society to take cryptocurrency seriously? Find a way to disallow or at least police illicit uses of it. Until you do that, I refuse to even entertain the idea that it’s a valuable asset and certainly not currency. This is not a technical challenge I’m making. This is a political demand. You would also still have to prove it’s more efficient and has a smaller carbon and energy footprint than traditional currency.
  - sokoloff 9y ago
    Have we effectively disallowed or policed the illicit use of $100 bills for drugs, weapons, or other trade? I agree with you that cryptocurrency is not currently particularly intrinsically useful, but I don't believe that "let everyone use it in a decentralized tamper-proof manner" fundamentally requires "and simultaneously restrict it from the following uses, which a subset of the global population deems undesirable". (In that regard, it's similar to "regular" crypto. I don't mind that people I don't particularly like are also able to use crypto to secure their communications. It's essential to my use case that they not be able to intercept my comms, and I accept in return that I can't intercept their comms either.)
    - ianai 9y ago
      There are genuine attempts made to police those uses. In the case of USD, the US enjoys being the default global currency. That bad actors also use it is more of a side note alongside everyone using it.
mjlangiii 9y ago
What about cultures that didn't have centralized government like native Americans?
- TheSoftwareGuy 9y ago
  They had various forms of government, depending on which particular tribe you are thinking of. Many had a theocracy, and some, like the Iroquois were part of a federation.