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Bitcoin wanted to be the world's currency, with a techno goldbug understanding of what money is. That shades a lot of what we think of as crypto. There are a l
by netcan 5y ago
Bitcoin wanted to be the world's currency, with a techno goldbug understanding of what money is. That shades a lot of what we think of as crypto.
There are a lot of different versions of the idea though. A lot of variety exists in crypto now, and very little is deterministic. I don't want to rule out the positive possibilities, and outlawing is broad brush. The PCB grunted at crypto here. We can do
That said, the variety of possibilities also creates danger. Underregulated stable coins, for example, get very sketchy once you reach a certain size. If they keep growing, start embellished with dolaralized interest payments and such.... you now have a rogue banking system issuing its own US dollars. Good luck with that. The scale of fraud, and treacherously borderline fraud can be epic. I don't think we should downplay these.
OTOH, this is true of every part of the financial sector. Lets not pretend the current way the financial sector is structured isn't riddled with the kinds of problems crypto poses.
A country with some clever CB people, even a small one, should be bold and bring crypto into the pax. There's a lot you can do with a designed-4-a-purpose currency, and crypto is a very viable way to do many things. Bitcoin's origins, and much of crypto's present, is secrecy oriented. But, it's actually more natural to design a cryptocurrency for transparency. That's useful in a lot of circumstances.
Take time to understand wtf is going on and regulate, ban or encourage specific things for specific reasons. There's a lot to be gained, not just a lot to be lost. A properly regulated stable coin might be a great idea.
Keynes has made a comeback during the pandemic, and people are relearning war era ideas about controlling inflation. In that context and considering 2021's low interest rates, national savings bonds will probably soon be considered in various places. You don't need crypto to do this, but it does give you more flexibility in how you do it.
- UncleMeat 5y ago> with a techno goldbug understanding of what money is I think this isn't emphasized enough. With existing fiat money I have some degree of democratic control over monetary policy. With BTC, critical monetary policy was set by one person and if that monetary policy ever changes it will be decided by a combination of engineers and mining conglomerates. Given how critical these policies are and how ideologically focused many of the non-speculators are, I am worried about growing systems with disastrous policy consequences.
- plebianRube 5y agoI believe you lack understanding of BTC monetary policy. I'm 100% sure you don't think you do though. BTC is at the point where if you don't have time or want to research what it really is, and only want to believe talking heads and authority figures, no one is going to take the time to explain it to you. Those days are over, people have moved on and are using it for utility, without permission, how they see fit, whether as a currency or store of value. Nothing can prevent a BTC transfer to anyone, anywhere, and at anytime. That is why China 'banned' it.
- UncleMeat 5y ago> I believe you lack understanding of BTC monetary policy. I am so tired of people insisting that I simply don't know anything. The mining curve is monetary policy. For example, a 100% premined coin has very different properties than a coin with a fixed mining rate and no upper bound. The upper bound on the number of bitcoins is consistently pointed at by proponents as a means to prevent inflation. I can imagine no other phrase for this than "monetary policy".
- plebianRube 5y agoYou claim you're tired of insisting you don't know anythig, yet you beleive you have no democratic say in BTC monetary policy. You don't know what you don't know.
- UncleMeat 5y agoI do not get a vote in BTC monetary policy by virtue of being a human. I'd get a vote according to my hash rate if I bought a mining rig. That isn't democracy.
- plebianRube 5y agoLike I said, you don't know what you don't know.