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The innovation I've been waiting for is FedCoin (digital dollar). The details are a little hazy, but I'm expecting real instant transfers (not just between peo

The innovation I've been waiting for is FedCoin (digital dollar). The details are a little hazy, but I'm expecting real instant transfers (not just between people but also between your own accounts at different institutions) and free access for everybody in the US. Like crypto, but with real money.

effie 5y ago
It's supposed to be centralized, no nothing like crypto-assets. More like tighter FED/government control of the "new dollar".
rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
Central Bank Digital Currencies are a dystopian nightmare. They permit all kinds of financial shenanigans like automated negative interest rate, demurrage, financial censorship and control. Cryptocurrency already is real money. Its more real than anything the state can print from nothing.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "Central Bank Digital Currencies are a dystopian nightmare. They permit all kinds of financial shenanigans like automated negative interest rate" We've had that for years, all banks can adjust interest rate and block accounts.
  - effie 5y ago
    But you could change the bank or use some alternative. If legacy currency is sunset in favor of centrally controlled currency (where the bank has no latitude and just does what central bank says), all those alternatives may disappear.
- mountainofdeath 5y ago
  Most of the advantages cryptocurrency fall into one two categories. 1. Speed improvements over the legacy infrastructure e.g. instant transfers without a middleman. Itself, mostly a problem just in the USA. 2. Bypassing various international and national regulations. Central bank digital currency retains #1 while rejecting #2 which is important for a nation's sovereignty.
  - rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
    Don't forget (the primary reason Bitcoin was invented) 3. The lack of ability for central banks to inflate the monetary supply. "The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust." --SN 3. is important for ensuring you don't have the time value of your savings destroyed by inflation.
    - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
      "The lack of ability for central banks to inflate the monetary supply." I am not clear how this helps. If bitcoin/ether becomes the dominant currency, 2008 crisis is still possible, but the recovery is not. So it seems like it would make things worse, not better? Countries used to go to war over gold and silver, it does not seem to be economically beneficial to have a deflationary currency.
      - effie 5y ago
        Being deflationary isn't the problem there. Stealing gold/silver happens because they are small physical objects with objective value that can be stolen from people guarding it with enough people with guns. Stealing crypto-assets is much different and given competent security policy, seems much harder to do. These assets are not guarded in vaults by people, but in computers by strong access controls and encryption algorithms.
        ClumsyPilot 5y ago
        You would not give up your (hypothetical) bitcoin wallet password even if mafia put a gun to your head? https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
        effie 5y ago
        I would, but that is a different problem, not specific to deflationary currency. It can happen whether I have dollars, gold, diamonds, crypto-assets. But with crypto-assets, being non-physical, it is possible to easily hide them and also hide who owns them, and then mafia has a very hard time figuring out who to hit with the wrench to get them. Deflationary currency would be bad for the current inflationary system and the small group of extremely rich people, but could be good for most people, who don't want to be in debt their whole life.
capableweb 5y ago
> free access for everybody in the US. As long as you're not previously convicted, registered sex offender, poor credit score or otherwise a "lower" human. > Like crypto, but with real money. "FedCoin" (a digital currency operated and maintained by a central authority) sounds like the opposite of a cryptocurrency.
lifeisstillgood 5y ago
I agree completely- the overhead of bitcoin and other crypto is only useful if we don't trust our governments / banks. As we trust them exactly as much as we do, we may as well have a blockchain run by the Fed / BoE and just have zero margin cost per transaction. I am slightly terrified of the short term consequences but it's a good idwa

effie 5y ago

It's supposed to be centralized, no nothing like crypto-assets. More like tighter FED/government control of the "new dollar".

rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago

Central Bank Digital Currencies are a dystopian nightmare. They permit all kinds of financial shenanigans like automated negative interest rate, demurrage, financial censorship and control. Cryptocurrency already is real money. Its more real than anything the state can print from nothing.

ClumsyPilot 5y ago
"Central Bank Digital Currencies are a dystopian nightmare. They permit all kinds of financial shenanigans like automated negative interest rate" We've had that for years, all banks can adjust interest rate and block accounts.
- effie 5y ago
  But you could change the bank or use some alternative. If legacy currency is sunset in favor of centrally controlled currency (where the bank has no latitude and just does what central bank says), all those alternatives may disappear.
mountainofdeath 5y ago
Most of the advantages cryptocurrency fall into one two categories. 1. Speed improvements over the legacy infrastructure e.g. instant transfers without a middleman. Itself, mostly a problem just in the USA. 2. Bypassing various international and national regulations. Central bank digital currency retains #1 while rejecting #2 which is important for a nation's sovereignty.
- rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
  Don't forget (the primary reason Bitcoin was invented) 3. The lack of ability for central banks to inflate the monetary supply. "The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust." --SN 3. is important for ensuring you don't have the time value of your savings destroyed by inflation.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    "The lack of ability for central banks to inflate the monetary supply." I am not clear how this helps. If bitcoin/ether becomes the dominant currency, 2008 crisis is still possible, but the recovery is not. So it seems like it would make things worse, not better? Countries used to go to war over gold and silver, it does not seem to be economically beneficial to have a deflationary currency.
    - effie 5y ago
      Being deflationary isn't the problem there. Stealing gold/silver happens because they are small physical objects with objective value that can be stolen from people guarding it with enough people with guns. Stealing crypto-assets is much different and given competent security policy, seems much harder to do. These assets are not guarded in vaults by people, but in computers by strong access controls and encryption algorithms.
      - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
        You would not give up your (hypothetical) bitcoin wallet password even if mafia put a gun to your head? https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
        effie 5y ago
        I would, but that is a different problem, not specific to deflationary currency. It can happen whether I have dollars, gold, diamonds, crypto-assets. But with crypto-assets, being non-physical, it is possible to easily hide them and also hide who owns them, and then mafia has a very hard time figuring out who to hit with the wrench to get them. Deflationary currency would be bad for the current inflationary system and the small group of extremely rich people, but could be good for most people, who don't want to be in debt their whole life.

capableweb 5y ago

> free access for everybody in the US. As long as you're not previously convicted, registered sex offender, poor credit score or otherwise a "lower" human. > Like crypto, but with real money. "FedCoin" (a digital currency operated and maintained by a central authority) sounds like the opposite of a cryptocurrency.

lifeisstillgood 5y ago

I agree completely- the overhead of bitcoin and other crypto is only useful if we don't trust our governments / banks. As we trust them exactly as much as we do, we may as well have a blockchain run by the Fed / BoE and just have zero margin cost per transaction. I am slightly terrified of the short term consequences but it's a good idwa