6 ms·

The only thing I can think of is monitoring of all transactions.

anonporridge 5y ago
You can do that way more easily will centralized digital fiat.
Apocryphon 5y ago
How are cryptocurrencies even "encrypted" and more anonymous than hard cash if all transactions are recorded in a ledger, the ledger that is the very basis of the currency? Isn't that the very antithesis of anonymity?
- freeflight 5y ago
  Afaik that claim to fame originally came from the fact how it's really difficult to track down the real owner of a wallet. With traditional bank accounts there's usually a whole circus of verifying your real identity involved that's directly tied to the account. While getting a BC wallet involves none of that, heck, it can probably be automated to such a degree that asking the question "Who actually owns the wallet created by a bot?" could become an interesting legal conundrum.
- kristjansson 5y ago
  Bitcoin and its ilk are explicitly pseudonymous not anonymous. Others attempt to provide actual anonymity, but lack the usage and mindshare of bitcoin
- treebot 5y ago
  Actual paper cash is more anonymous than most crypto, including Bitcoin.
WJW 5y ago
Lack of imagination. Step 1: Buy a lot of bitcoin. Step 2: Convince/bribe the President of El Salvador to make bitcoin the legal tender. Step 3: Bitcoin goes up because "OMG legal tender status" even though it is in a super minor country that was de facto using the USD as currency anyway. Step 4: Sell your bitcoin at a profit due to the events of step 3. Step 5: Who cares about what happens after step 4.
- fleddr 5y ago
  The El Salvador plan has done absolutely nothing for Bitcoin's price, so I guess the plan (which you made up) failed. BTC price swings occurs due to institutional buying (or selling) which are generally triggered by macro conditions. Nothing else triggers it because the market cap is too large to move on minor news. Finally, an opportunistic Bitcoin trader wants Bitcoin to go down, not up. So that they can buy more.
- zitterbewegung 5y ago
  I meant for the country as a whole not traders that would use non public information.
rcohngru 5y ago
From what I have read, this is actually not the case. Remittances account for 1/5 of El Salvador's GDP, which is one of the highest ratios in the world. The companies that facilitate these remittances often charge pretty high fees, so the idea behind using bitcoin is to increase the amount of money that makes it home to El Salvador by reducing the cost incurred from transfer fees.

You can do that way more easily will centralized digital fiat.

How are cryptocurrencies even "encrypted" and more anonymous than hard cash if all transactions are recorded in a ledger, the ledger that is the very basis of the currency? Isn't that the very antithesis of anonymity?

freeflight 5y ago
Afaik that claim to fame originally came from the fact how it's really difficult to track down the real owner of a wallet. With traditional bank accounts there's usually a whole circus of verifying your real identity involved that's directly tied to the account. While getting a BC wallet involves none of that, heck, it can probably be automated to such a degree that asking the question "Who actually owns the wallet created by a bot?" could become an interesting legal conundrum.
kristjansson 5y ago
Bitcoin and its ilk are explicitly pseudonymous not anonymous. Others attempt to provide actual anonymity, but lack the usage and mindshare of bitcoin
treebot 5y ago
Actual paper cash is more anonymous than most crypto, including Bitcoin.

WJW 5y ago

Lack of imagination. Step 1: Buy a lot of bitcoin. Step 2: Convince/bribe the President of El Salvador to make bitcoin the legal tender. Step 3: Bitcoin goes up because "OMG legal tender status" even though it is in a super minor country that was de facto using the USD as currency anyway. Step 4: Sell your bitcoin at a profit due to the events of step 3. Step 5: Who cares about what happens after step 4.

fleddr 5y ago
The El Salvador plan has done absolutely nothing for Bitcoin's price, so I guess the plan (which you made up) failed. BTC price swings occurs due to institutional buying (or selling) which are generally triggered by macro conditions. Nothing else triggers it because the market cap is too large to move on minor news. Finally, an opportunistic Bitcoin trader wants Bitcoin to go down, not up. So that they can buy more.
zitterbewegung 5y ago
I meant for the country as a whole not traders that would use non public information.

rcohngru 5y ago

From what I have read, this is actually not the case. Remittances account for 1/5 of El Salvador's GDP, which is one of the highest ratios in the world. The companies that facilitate these remittances often charge pretty high fees, so the idea behind using bitcoin is to increase the amount of money that makes it home to El Salvador by reducing the cost incurred from transfer fees.