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I hate the idea that lawfully skeptical/paranoid citizens get mixed up with this stuff by paying for these currencies because it appears to them like an accepta

by jl2718 6y ago

I hate the idea that lawfully skeptical/paranoid citizens get mixed up with this stuff by paying for these currencies because it appears to them like an acceptable trade-off versus the risks of financial authoritarianism. Crypto would have zero value if only criminals felt the need to use it.

loceng 6y ago
Does it have value if criminals can use it freely? There will need to be the same functional centralized systems of justice, accountable, and enforcement.
- fakedang 6y ago
  Lol, Bitcoin started as a (sort of) traceless currency for criminals, and back then it had an actual utility as a financial medium. You could get a fake ID, drugs or unmarked guns or whatever only with Bitcoin. Now it's just a fancy hoarding tool (and no, a highly volatile instrument is not a store for wealth).
  - jl2718 6y ago
    It was capitalizing a supply chain that had a lot of criminal activity in it, but still the value had to come from exchange with dollars. I guess there is a question of how many people and how much of the economy you sweep up in the term 'criminal', because, as I understand, the vast majority of money that flows into criminal enterprise comes from illegal drug users with legal source income. At this point though, we made billionaires out of those criminals because ordinary 100% lawful citizens around the world fear the financial mismanagement, corruption, and/or authoritarianism of their own governments, depending on where they live. That's sad. Terrible outcome really.
  - cwkoss 6y ago
    I'd argue it started as a cryptography toy, then became a means of acquiring Pizza, then became a tool for criminals.
    - fakedang 6y ago
      The pizza use case happened once. Criminal transactions were happening by the thousands within months of that.
  - jkepler 6y ago
    "Hoarding" is simply a characterization of what others call saving. Look at economic history: places where people are able to save effectively tend to grow significant investment in economically productive activities.
ryanlol 6y ago
> Crypto would have zero value if only criminals felt the need to use it. Of course it would

by jl2718 6y ago

loceng 6y ago

Does it have value if criminals can use it freely? There will need to be the same functional centralized systems of justice, accountable, and enforcement.

fakedang 6y ago
Lol, Bitcoin started as a (sort of) traceless currency for criminals, and back then it had an actual utility as a financial medium. You could get a fake ID, drugs or unmarked guns or whatever only with Bitcoin. Now it's just a fancy hoarding tool (and no, a highly volatile instrument is not a store for wealth).
- jl2718 6y ago
  It was capitalizing a supply chain that had a lot of criminal activity in it, but still the value had to come from exchange with dollars. I guess there is a question of how many people and how much of the economy you sweep up in the term 'criminal', because, as I understand, the vast majority of money that flows into criminal enterprise comes from illegal drug users with legal source income. At this point though, we made billionaires out of those criminals because ordinary 100% lawful citizens around the world fear the financial mismanagement, corruption, and/or authoritarianism of their own governments, depending on where they live. That's sad. Terrible outcome really.
- cwkoss 6y ago
  I'd argue it started as a cryptography toy, then became a means of acquiring Pizza, then became a tool for criminals.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    The pizza use case happened once. Criminal transactions were happening by the thousands within months of that.
- jkepler 6y ago
  "Hoarding" is simply a characterization of what others call saving. Look at economic history: places where people are able to save effectively tend to grow significant investment in economically productive activities.

ryanlol 6y ago

> Crypto would have zero value if only criminals felt the need to use it. Of course it would