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Yes there are lots of problems with banking. Cryptocurrency does have a reason to exist, though of course we went and fucked it all up. It can help ordinary peo

Yes there are lots of problems with banking. Cryptocurrency does have a reason to exist, though of course we went and fucked it all up. It can help ordinary people outmaneuver oppressive regimes. It can perform that same core functions that banks can (i.e. keeping track of and moving around money) in a public and distributed way. The banking industry (often metonymically known as "Wall Street") is literally the canonical example of greed. There are problems with banking. In a better world, crypto can distribute the power of money. But, since it's a technology born within the system, it is instead used as a way of amassing value, and in the end only making the rich richer.

thathndude 5y ago
I saw a great, pithy tweet recently, and I won’t do it justice, but I’ll give it a shot. Crypto, and Blockchain, are like little fiefdoms that are being created, and the people who create them, and in the process mine the first couple million blocks, will be the Lords. As you say, the rich getting richer. And doing it all by hijacking this message of the “little guys” banding together against the establishment.
- barnabee 5y ago
  Certainly bitcoin is designed that way, and it’s one of a few reasons why although BTC has a good chance of succeeding as “digital gold”, it has almost no chance of being a general purpose currency. Other chains and tokens have they problem, too, to a great or lesser extent. However that is an implementation decision for each individual project, mostly around how supply is distributed and redistributed, and the inflationary mechanics of the asset. These can be innovated on by forking the original. They are also changeable (technically even in bitcoin, though in reality it seems unlikely), with the risk of forks acting as pressure to make beneficial changes. What I’m saying here is that it is possible and even desirable to design a cryptocurrency which doesn’t work that way, either from the start or perhaps via an “exit to the community” that over time devalues the stakes of founders and early investors and prioritises the users and value creators within the network. There are lots of mechanics that can be used for this, and most experiments so far have been limited or naive but I expect to and we need to see more of this if cryptocurrencies etc. are to succeed.
leshow 5y ago
> The banking industry (often metonymically known as "Wall Street") is literally the canonical example of greed. And crypto isn't? The whole thing runs on FOMO
imtringued 5y ago
In theory, using Bitcoin as payment infrastructure is perfectly legitimate. However, the store of value myth is what everyone believes in and it is what is driving the popularity of Bitcoin. It's not very logical. No, you haven't invented the financial equivalent of the perpetuum mobile. Someone must work hard for all those gains or they disappear into thin air.
robomartin 5y ago
> Yes there are lots of problems with banking. I keep reading versions of this assertion and have yet to read anyone publish a clear list of these "lots" of problems. I am trying to understand. So far, I don't. In other words, so far I still think crypto is a solution looking for a problem. Even worse, to me it feels like early entrants and those with millions to throw at crypto made out like bandits and everyone else is in the grips of a Ponzi scheme that will end badly at some point. I could be wrong, of course, I just know too many people who jumped in and got hurt.
zepto 5y ago
> It can help ordinary people outmaneuver oppressive regimes. An unproven fantasy.

thathndude 5y ago

I saw a great, pithy tweet recently, and I won’t do it justice, but I’ll give it a shot. Crypto, and Blockchain, are like little fiefdoms that are being created, and the people who create them, and in the process mine the first couple million blocks, will be the Lords. As you say, the rich getting richer. And doing it all by hijacking this message of the “little guys” banding together against the establishment.

barnabee 5y ago
Certainly bitcoin is designed that way, and it’s one of a few reasons why although BTC has a good chance of succeeding as “digital gold”, it has almost no chance of being a general purpose currency. Other chains and tokens have they problem, too, to a great or lesser extent. However that is an implementation decision for each individual project, mostly around how supply is distributed and redistributed, and the inflationary mechanics of the asset. These can be innovated on by forking the original. They are also changeable (technically even in bitcoin, though in reality it seems unlikely), with the risk of forks acting as pressure to make beneficial changes. What I’m saying here is that it is possible and even desirable to design a cryptocurrency which doesn’t work that way, either from the start or perhaps via an “exit to the community” that over time devalues the stakes of founders and early investors and prioritises the users and value creators within the network. There are lots of mechanics that can be used for this, and most experiments so far have been limited or naive but I expect to and we need to see more of this if cryptocurrencies etc. are to succeed.

leshow 5y ago

> The banking industry (often metonymically known as "Wall Street") is literally the canonical example of greed. And crypto isn't? The whole thing runs on FOMO

imtringued 5y ago

In theory, using Bitcoin as payment infrastructure is perfectly legitimate. However, the store of value myth is what everyone believes in and it is what is driving the popularity of Bitcoin. It's not very logical. No, you haven't invented the financial equivalent of the perpetuum mobile. Someone must work hard for all those gains or they disappear into thin air.

robomartin 5y ago

> Yes there are lots of problems with banking. I keep reading versions of this assertion and have yet to read anyone publish a clear list of these "lots" of problems. I am trying to understand. So far, I don't. In other words, so far I still think crypto is a solution looking for a problem. Even worse, to me it feels like early entrants and those with millions to throw at crypto made out like bandits and everyone else is in the grips of a Ponzi scheme that will end badly at some point. I could be wrong, of course, I just know too many people who jumped in and got hurt.

zepto 5y ago

> It can help ordinary people outmaneuver oppressive regimes. An unproven fantasy.