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I'm sceptical of most of the claimed benefits of crypto but I have to admit that it seems useful for cross-border remittances, bypassing companies like Western
by _djo_ 5y ago
I'm sceptical of most of the claimed benefits of crypto but I have to admit that it seems useful for cross-border remittances, bypassing companies like Western Union who have traditionally charged unreasonable rates. Even with processing fees it's usually cheaper to do it via crypto.
- NicoJuicy 5y agoProblem here is banking for the rural areas in poor countries. They don't have internet, so they have to travel far to get banking access and as such, they are unbanked. Claiming crypto is the solution is a fake dogma of the core issue.
- _djo_ 5y agoThe poor and unbanked in a number of developing countries are still able to use crypto for remittances, in some cases done through local trusted intermediaries who do have that access. Same as hawala brokers.
- NicoJuicy 5y agoCore problem is internet connectivity that enables easy banking.
- user-the-name 5y ago> it seems useful for cross-border remittances It seems useful for that, yes, but it turns out: It is not actually useful for that. The economics just do not work. Crypto can not support a one-way money flow, so it has to rely on middlemen for the reverse flow, and that ends up being at least as expensive as traditional ways of doing remittance. Many companies have tried to make this work, and they have all folded.