4 ms·

Yes, of course. The problem here is the repressive government. But as everything, they have tools. Crypto takes one of the tools for them (Debasing the currency

Yes, of course. The problem here is the repressive government. But as everything, they have tools. Crypto takes one of the tools for them (Debasing the currency and strict control over local banks). Any tool we can take from them is good. Even a not-really-hostile-goverment-but-more-like-incompetent can do a lot of damage by debasing the currency. Now the citizens have tools to fight their incompetence. If only for this reason, is better to have crypto than not have it. I can came up for a lot of reasons why I think Tik-Tok is useless, but is useful for a lot of people, so no reason for me to to bash it.

acdha 5y ago
> Crypto takes one of the tools for them (Debasing the currency and strict control over local banks). How? Nobody needs cryptocurrency to pay their bills and statistically nobody uses it - many, like Bitcoin, are designed to discourage regular usage – so all the government has to do is control exchange points in the local economy. Until you can pay taxes or rent, buy groceries, etc. that gives the government more control than they get with cash. Since cryptocurrencies provide a full irrepudiable audit trail, that also makes it extremely risky to try to skirt local regulations since any attempt to do a transaction under the table has an inherent risk that the other party, willingly or not, is or ever will be giving data to to government. Since we’re talking about systems which have spent many years failing to be capable or desirable for routine use even in countries which don’t have strict rules limiting use, it seems unlikely that this would provide any significant protection in a more repressive regime. The other thing you have to remember is that the quasi-religious desire for deflationary behavior from cryptocurrency proponents isn’t what most people want. Deflation causes economic contraction and favors rich asset holders who have reliable revenue streams – unless that’s you, the modest inflation targeted by most central banks is a much better deal.

acdha 5y ago

> Crypto takes one of the tools for them (Debasing the currency and strict control over local banks). How? Nobody needs cryptocurrency to pay their bills and statistically nobody uses it - many, like Bitcoin, are designed to discourage regular usage – so all the government has to do is control exchange points in the local economy. Until you can pay taxes or rent, buy groceries, etc. that gives the government more control than they get with cash. Since cryptocurrencies provide a full irrepudiable audit trail, that also makes it extremely risky to try to skirt local regulations since any attempt to do a transaction under the table has an inherent risk that the other party, willingly or not, is or ever will be giving data to to government. Since we’re talking about systems which have spent many years failing to be capable or desirable for routine use even in countries which don’t have strict rules limiting use, it seems unlikely that this would provide any significant protection in a more repressive regime. The other thing you have to remember is that the quasi-religious desire for deflationary behavior from cryptocurrency proponents isn’t what most people want. Deflation causes economic contraction and favors rich asset holders who have reliable revenue streams – unless that’s you, the modest inflation targeted by most central banks is a much better deal.