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> There are controls in place to stop them from stealing it al. If someone just transferred it to their own account, I could use the courts to get it back. Wha

by shawnz 5y ago

> There are controls in place to stop them from stealing it al. If someone just transferred it to their own account, I could use the courts to get it back. What if it's taken thorough wrongful civil forfeiture? Will you be able to afford to navigate the courts to get your assets back after they've been seized?

WJW 5y ago
Not always, but wrongful civil forfeiture is just one of many possible ways to steal. In other cases using the court system will be possible. With bitcoin, it is never possible.
- shawnz 5y ago
  So if you think the risk of permanently losing your assets via legal channels is, let's say, 99-to-1 compared to the risk of losing your assets to cryptocurrency attacks, then wouldn't it make sense to hold 99% of your assets in the bank and 1% in cryptocurrencies? Cryptocurrencies don't have to replace all existing financial instruments to be a useful hedge. They can just be one tool of many to diversify your risk profile. Especially consider that for people living outside the developed world, the risk of having your assets stolen through legal channels is going to be much higher.
  - WJW 5y ago
    If you think it is indeed 99-to-1, then perhaps. My perception of the trustworthiness of most crypto projects is certainly much lower (see the endless parade of crypto horror stories on https://www.reddit.com/r/SorryForYourLoss/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SorryForYourLoss/), so personally I would think the odds of a crypto project going under or just simply losing my wallet keys is way higher than the chance my bank or my government will steal my money or my stocks or whatever. Then again, I do live in western Europe so YMMV if you live in Venezuela or someplace like that.
- chachachoney 5y ago
  That's manifestly untrue. If it weren't, the MTGox settlement wouldn't be proceeding...
perl4ever 5y ago
Many/most people don't worry about having large amounts of cash stolen, whether by authorities or criminals precisely because they trust the banking system to keep track of their money.
- shawnz 5y ago
  The banking system would obviously cooperate with authorities.
gregopet 5y ago
Cryptocurrencies are like Swiss bank accounts without Switzerland?

by shawnz 5y ago

WJW 5y ago

Not always, but wrongful civil forfeiture is just one of many possible ways to steal. In other cases using the court system will be possible. With bitcoin, it is never possible.

shawnz 5y ago
So if you think the risk of permanently losing your assets via legal channels is, let's say, 99-to-1 compared to the risk of losing your assets to cryptocurrency attacks, then wouldn't it make sense to hold 99% of your assets in the bank and 1% in cryptocurrencies? Cryptocurrencies don't have to replace all existing financial instruments to be a useful hedge. They can just be one tool of many to diversify your risk profile. Especially consider that for people living outside the developed world, the risk of having your assets stolen through legal channels is going to be much higher.
- WJW 5y ago
  If you think it is indeed 99-to-1, then perhaps. My perception of the trustworthiness of most crypto projects is certainly much lower (see the endless parade of crypto horror stories on https://www.reddit.com/r/SorryForYourLoss/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SorryForYourLoss/), so personally I would think the odds of a crypto project going under or just simply losing my wallet keys is way higher than the chance my bank or my government will steal my money or my stocks or whatever. Then again, I do live in western Europe so YMMV if you live in Venezuela or someplace like that.
chachachoney 5y ago
That's manifestly untrue. If it weren't, the MTGox settlement wouldn't be proceeding...

perl4ever 5y ago

Many/most people don't worry about having large amounts of cash stolen, whether by authorities or criminals precisely because they trust the banking system to keep track of their money.

shawnz 5y ago
The banking system would obviously cooperate with authorities.

gregopet 5y ago

Cryptocurrencies are like Swiss bank accounts without Switzerland?