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"Cryptocurrency doesn't provide any new capabilities at all." The new capability that cryptocurrency provides is that money is now "programmable" it's a fusion

by doopy1 5y ago

"Cryptocurrency doesn't provide any new capabilities at all." The new capability that cryptocurrency provides is that money is now "programmable" it's a fusion between money and software. Wether or not this is a benefit, is subjective, but IMO it's a humble beginning with epic potential.

naikrovek 5y ago
A) Cryptocurrency is not money. It's not even a recognized currency. It's a virtual item. You can't hold it in your hand. When you spend it, it gets converted to the actual currency in your location and then THAT money is spent on the item you're buying. You don't buy anything with cryptocurrency, you only trade it for real money. Cryptocurrency is not money. B) it's not programmable; it's an inert thing; proof of work or storage. Programs generate it according to rules that people set. (Real money is created according to rules that people set, as well, so it's "programmable" too, if you look at it in the same way.) There is nothing new about cryptocurrency. I could dump $1000 into bushels of corn and get the same exact effect. To grow corn you need to have space to grow it, fertile soil to grow it in, and you need to work, over time, to plant it, fertilize it, and to control pests and invasive weeds. At the end of the growing season, you harvest and you store the corn in a grain silo, and you wait for the price to go up to a point you're comfortable with before you sell it. Same with wheat, soybeans, livestock, real-estate and so on. None of those things are currency, but at least they're tangible, and they can all be traded for money, just like cryptocurrency. There is nothing new about cryptocurrency.
- doopy1 5y ago
  Here's another way of looking at it: A - Of course it's not fiat money, but it doesn't need to be. The money in your bank account can be described as virtual too. Folks transact in crypto all the time for goods, services, and "conceptual" transactions like DeFi and NFTs. Maybe it's not widely adopted enough for you to buy a 6-pack of beer at the corner store, but that doesn't mean it's not money. The money in your bank account is just as virtual anyway by your definition. For example: I can't pay with Shekels at a Walmart in Iowa, but I can pay with my debit card and have the bank convert it to the currency in my location, etc... B - When I say it's programmable money, I'm talking about things like the EVM. Calling it programmable money is reductionist sure, but in effect that's what it is. Cryptocurrency and dapps provide a platform for folks to have complex transactions. Just because you don't want to participate in those transactions doesn't mean others aren't, they clearly are. Also, this stuff doesn't need to fit the traditional definition of currency in order to be viable. To me, it's a distributed computing platform for the exchange of value. Maybe you think it's worse than what we have already, and that's fine, in many way it is, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have benefits of its own.

by doopy1 5y ago

naikrovek 5y ago

A) Cryptocurrency is not money. It's not even a recognized currency. It's a virtual item. You can't hold it in your hand. When you spend it, it gets converted to the actual currency in your location and then THAT money is spent on the item you're buying. You don't buy anything with cryptocurrency, you only trade it for real money. Cryptocurrency is not money. B) it's not programmable; it's an inert thing; proof of work or storage. Programs generate it according to rules that people set. (Real money is created according to rules that people set, as well, so it's "programmable" too, if you look at it in the same way.) There is nothing new about cryptocurrency. I could dump $1000 into bushels of corn and get the same exact effect. To grow corn you need to have space to grow it, fertile soil to grow it in, and you need to work, over time, to plant it, fertilize it, and to control pests and invasive weeds. At the end of the growing season, you harvest and you store the corn in a grain silo, and you wait for the price to go up to a point you're comfortable with before you sell it. Same with wheat, soybeans, livestock, real-estate and so on. None of those things are currency, but at least they're tangible, and they can all be traded for money, just like cryptocurrency. There is nothing new about cryptocurrency.

doopy1 5y ago
Here's another way of looking at it: A - Of course it's not fiat money, but it doesn't need to be. The money in your bank account can be described as virtual too. Folks transact in crypto all the time for goods, services, and "conceptual" transactions like DeFi and NFTs. Maybe it's not widely adopted enough for you to buy a 6-pack of beer at the corner store, but that doesn't mean it's not money. The money in your bank account is just as virtual anyway by your definition. For example: I can't pay with Shekels at a Walmart in Iowa, but I can pay with my debit card and have the bank convert it to the currency in my location, etc... B - When I say it's programmable money, I'm talking about things like the EVM. Calling it programmable money is reductionist sure, but in effect that's what it is. Cryptocurrency and dapps provide a platform for folks to have complex transactions. Just because you don't want to participate in those transactions doesn't mean others aren't, they clearly are. Also, this stuff doesn't need to fit the traditional definition of currency in order to be viable. To me, it's a distributed computing platform for the exchange of value. Maybe you think it's worse than what we have already, and that's fine, in many way it is, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have benefits of its own.