5 ms·

Are there numbers on what the primary uses of cryptocurrency are? I would guess remittances, purchasing illegal things, purchasing legal things, and ransomware

by crummy 5y ago

Are there numbers on what the primary uses of cryptocurrency are? I would guess remittances, purchasing illegal things, purchasing legal things, and ransomware - but I'm not sure in what order.

idlewords 5y ago
I think it also depends on what you count as "use". The #1 function of Bitcoin is as a speculative asset.
morelisp 5y ago
I am not sure remittance counts as a "use", especially if it is only useful for remitting money because it is also actually "used" for settling ransomware payouts or buying cocaine.
jamal-kumar 5y ago
I have a lot of digital artist friends who used to rely on live performances and installations for their money, now they're seriously killing it selling NFTs Some of them opt out of more environmentally unfriendly stuff like Ethereum for sure Personally I've developed systems for paying for everyday things like your bus fare or phone bill using crypto in a country where there's a hell of a lot less confidence in fiat (Brazil) -- hell check out the history of the Brazilian Real if you want an idea of what real candycorn money looks like Personally I just feel a hell of a lot of privileged bullshit out of people arguing that crypto is some good for nothing shit. Yeah sure great try living in a country where your government is fucked. We truly don't live in some francis fukuyama neoliberal fantasy world where we can trust stuff like traditional financial markets which have gone and failed us in the non english speaking world time and time again. I welcome any and all alternatives
- mandelken 5y ago
  TL;DR [CITATION NEEDED] ;-) Wow, you can actually pay your bus fare and phone bills in Brazil with crypto? That sounds either very impressive or totally unbelievable. I could not find anything on Google, so if someone could you link/cite to some actually used examples (I guess apps or utility website?) that would be very helpful. Sincere thanks.
  - ufo 5y ago
    As with anything cryptocurrency related, it's safe to assume that the justification is contrived and the actual use case is niche, at best. My experience as a Brazilian is that I've never seen anyone using cryptocurrencies in real life. On the other hand, the government's new instant payments system (Pix), allows anyone with a mobile phone to easily make small payments. In less than one year since launch it's already ubiquitous.
    - jamal-kumar 5y ago
      ok lammer on the other hand the boleto system is incredibly sweet and is what we based our stuff around
  - jamal-kumar 5y ago
    yeah i mean not like a condescending tone is going to covince me to try and convince you to give away PII on this one i mean this account is linked to my name you can do your thing
  - jamal-kumar 5y ago
    by the way you try searching in portuguese? https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=comprar%20passagem%20de%20%C3%B4nibus%20com%20criptomoeda https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=comprar%20passagem%20d... plenty of options now wow so hard to find
Jarwain 5y ago
I think the interesting use is more in the blockchain than the currency. Public, verifiable, tied to an identity, decentralized statements that can be used as public records or provide an audit trail. Cryptographically & blockchain secured bodycams is an example that I've been looking into recently
- ufo 5y ago
  The problem is that the distributed consensus in a blockchain is only possible if that blockchain is also used as a currency. If you remove the currency aspect, it's no better than a Git repository, which also has a merkle tree ( but no way to say which repo is the canonical one).
throwaway743 5y ago
Aren't those things also purchased with usd, euro, yen, won, rmb, etc?
- crummy 5y ago
  Yes, though (to their benefit) traditional currencies don't work as well for ransomware. Possibly the same for illegal purchases. Remittances seems like one of the true benefits of cryptocurrency... but that's why I'd like to know what amount of usage is actually that and what is, let's say non-beneficial.
  - throwaway743 5y ago
    Ah I see what you're getting at now. Understandable.
ttt0 5y ago
The primary use of cryptocurrency is in its name - a currency.
- crummy 5y ago
  So... What do people use the currency for, mostly? That's what I'm asking.
  - ttt0 5y ago
    Transactions, investment, store of value. Just like any other currency.
tornato7 5y ago
Yes, take a look at this article by Coinbase for some well-sourced numbers: https://blog.coinbase.com/fact-check-crypto-is-increasingly-being-used-for-criminal-activity-and-is-a-haven-for-illicit-856a71dfb399 https://blog.coinbase.com/fact-check-crypto-is-increasingly-...

by crummy 5y ago

Are there numbers on what the primary uses of cryptocurrency are? I would guess remittances, purchasing illegal things, purchasing legal things, and ransomware - but I'm not sure in what order.

idlewords 5y ago

I think it also depends on what you count as "use". The #1 function of Bitcoin is as a speculative asset.

morelisp 5y ago

I am not sure remittance counts as a "use", especially if it is only useful for remitting money because it is also actually "used" for settling ransomware payouts or buying cocaine.

jamal-kumar 5y ago

I have a lot of digital artist friends who used to rely on live performances and installations for their money, now they're seriously killing it selling NFTs Some of them opt out of more environmentally unfriendly stuff like Ethereum for sure Personally I've developed systems for paying for everyday things like your bus fare or phone bill using crypto in a country where there's a hell of a lot less confidence in fiat (Brazil) -- hell check out the history of the Brazilian Real if you want an idea of what real candycorn money looks like Personally I just feel a hell of a lot of privileged bullshit out of people arguing that crypto is some good for nothing shit. Yeah sure great try living in a country where your government is fucked. We truly don't live in some francis fukuyama neoliberal fantasy world where we can trust stuff like traditional financial markets which have gone and failed us in the non english speaking world time and time again. I welcome any and all alternatives

mandelken 5y ago
TL;DR [CITATION NEEDED] ;-) Wow, you can actually pay your bus fare and phone bills in Brazil with crypto? That sounds either very impressive or totally unbelievable. I could not find anything on Google, so if someone could you link/cite to some actually used examples (I guess apps or utility website?) that would be very helpful. Sincere thanks.
- ufo 5y ago
  As with anything cryptocurrency related, it's safe to assume that the justification is contrived and the actual use case is niche, at best. My experience as a Brazilian is that I've never seen anyone using cryptocurrencies in real life. On the other hand, the government's new instant payments system (Pix), allows anyone with a mobile phone to easily make small payments. In less than one year since launch it's already ubiquitous.
  - jamal-kumar 5y ago
    ok lammer on the other hand the boleto system is incredibly sweet and is what we based our stuff around
- jamal-kumar 5y ago
  yeah i mean not like a condescending tone is going to covince me to try and convince you to give away PII on this one i mean this account is linked to my name you can do your thing
- jamal-kumar 5y ago
  by the way you try searching in portuguese? https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=comprar%20passagem%20de%20%C3%B4nibus%20com%20criptomoeda https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=comprar%20passagem%20d... plenty of options now wow so hard to find

Jarwain 5y ago

I think the interesting use is more in the blockchain than the currency. Public, verifiable, tied to an identity, decentralized statements that can be used as public records or provide an audit trail. Cryptographically & blockchain secured bodycams is an example that I've been looking into recently

ufo 5y ago
The problem is that the distributed consensus in a blockchain is only possible if that blockchain is also used as a currency. If you remove the currency aspect, it's no better than a Git repository, which also has a merkle tree ( but no way to say which repo is the canonical one).

throwaway743 5y ago

Aren't those things also purchased with usd, euro, yen, won, rmb, etc?

crummy 5y ago
Yes, though (to their benefit) traditional currencies don't work as well for ransomware. Possibly the same for illegal purchases. Remittances seems like one of the true benefits of cryptocurrency... but that's why I'd like to know what amount of usage is actually that and what is, let's say non-beneficial.
- throwaway743 5y ago
  Ah I see what you're getting at now. Understandable.

ttt0 5y ago

The primary use of cryptocurrency is in its name - a currency.

crummy 5y ago
So... What do people use the currency for, mostly? That's what I'm asking.
- ttt0 5y ago
  Transactions, investment, store of value. Just like any other currency.

tornato7 5y ago

Yes, take a look at this article by Coinbase for some well-sourced numbers: https://blog.coinbase.com/fact-check-crypto-is-increasingly-being-used-for-criminal-activity-and-is-a-haven-for-illicit-856a71dfb399 https://blog.coinbase.com/fact-check-crypto-is-increasingly-...