> You don't have to trust the software, you can verify it or implement your own. This is a common refrain among software people, but in reality approximately 0

> You don't have to trust the software, you can verify it or implement your own. This is a common refrain among software people, but in reality approximately 0% of the market actually rewrites such software on their own. Most people can't code, and the percentage of those who have the time, interest, and specialized programming skills to rewrite their own financial software is an incredibly tiny pool. In practice, you have to trust someone's code. And auditing doesn't get you very far either. That takes time too, and auditing secure software is really hard. I doubt I could do it, personally. > You don't have to trust your internet uplink, the protocol would work over carrier pigeons or with dead drops. Be serious. Nobody does this, aside from maybe as a joke. > You don't have to trust exchanges, just exchange bitcoin for local currency with your neighbor. You don't have to, yet everyone seems to. Convenience matters, pretending to the contrary is a fool's game. > And even if you use an exchange you shouldn't store money there anyways. Crypto fans say this all the damn time, and yet nobody seems to listen. Maybe because it's foolish advice to give? While this advice is technically strong, it fundamentally fails to understand what people using any financial system want and what motivates them. Nobody wants to turn the process of moving money around into an elaborate song and dance; they want to click a few buttons and have it work. If your system counts on either telling people to avoid the most convenient option to accomplish the task, your advice will continually fail.