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It sounds like you are saying that the bank will use a blockchain type ledger instead of a SQL based ledger on the back end. What problem does that solve? For

It sounds like you are saying that the bank will use a blockchain type ledger instead of a SQL based ledger on the back end. What problem does that solve? For people to want to switch to this type of bank there has to be a net benefit.

capableweb 5y ago
> What problem does that solve? For people to want to switch to this type of bank there has to be a net benefit. Again, in my argument there are two choices at play. One of the choice allows the other, whereas the other doesn't. You can still have centralization if you want, on top of decentralization. But if you chose centralization for the core, you cannot have decentralization on top of that, even if you'd really want it.
- gitfan86 5y ago
  So it isn't solving a problem that current bank customers are looking to solve, it is just adding a buzzword to the feature set of the bank.
  - GLGirty 5y ago
    It's solving the problem of, 'we want programmers to be a more powerful caste.'
- oblio 5y ago
  What exactly does decentralization offer considering all governments are centralized? The Holy Grail of crypto seems to be some sort of dream of a fully decentralized society without banks or governments. What if that doesn't happen? There's no reason to assume that even if crypto wins, banks or governments go away. My personal bet is that governments (and probably banks, too) will be around long after cryptocurrencies go away. What exactly are we winning? Practical stuff, not ideology. What do we get? Why should I care?
  - kevinak 5y ago
    I can't speak for other people but I personally believe most of the folks into Bitcoin aren't crazy libertarians longing for a world without a functioning society. It's a loud minority. With regards to practical wins I can see a number that are even playing out today: - The ability to skirt sanctions making it possible to donate to organisations that are deemed "illegal" - Banking for those that are deemed unprofitable by banks. El Salvador has a large portion of unbanked citizens. Making it possible for them to interact with the wider world economy seems like a good thing to me? - The ability for people in extreme situations to store value in something other than their governments currency. Think Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Turkey, etc. - Promotes the build-out of new energy production; especially renewables since they are the cheapest form of electricity. This is a topic that deserves a thread in itself so probably not worth going into here. You should care because the world doesn't exist solely in the privileged western hemisphere.
    - oblio 5y ago
      I agree with all of that, but 99% of actual crypto usage I hear about is in rich countries, as speculation and as pyramid schemes. I'd really, really love to hear about stories of widespread cryptocurrency usage in developing countries. Also, considering the low transaction rates and the high transaction fees, how would this magic vision of the future work for poor people, anyway?
      - kevinak 5y ago
        I agree, most of the crypto usage is just speculation. I'd even go so far as to say 99.999% of all cryptocurrencies are scams of some sort, either incidental or intentional. I view Bitcoin as pretty different to the others. I'd suggest looking for news stories or posts from El Salvador. You can find both positive and negative ones, of course. The low transaction rates and high transaction fees argument isn't really valid anymore. A lot of the transactions have moved to L2 (Lightning Network) and thus current transaction fees on Bitcoin are regularly reaching $0.05. Using LN you also bypass any bottlenecks associated with number of transactions per second and confirmation time.
pnutjam 5y ago
Duh, it solves the; other people are making money and not me part. But not for you of course, for the crypto scammers.

capableweb 5y ago

> What problem does that solve? For people to want to switch to this type of bank there has to be a net benefit. Again, in my argument there are two choices at play. One of the choice allows the other, whereas the other doesn't. You can still have centralization if you want, on top of decentralization. But if you chose centralization for the core, you cannot have decentralization on top of that, even if you'd really want it.

gitfan86 5y ago
So it isn't solving a problem that current bank customers are looking to solve, it is just adding a buzzword to the feature set of the bank.
- GLGirty 5y ago
  It's solving the problem of, 'we want programmers to be a more powerful caste.'
oblio 5y ago
What exactly does decentralization offer considering all governments are centralized? The Holy Grail of crypto seems to be some sort of dream of a fully decentralized society without banks or governments. What if that doesn't happen? There's no reason to assume that even if crypto wins, banks or governments go away. My personal bet is that governments (and probably banks, too) will be around long after cryptocurrencies go away. What exactly are we winning? Practical stuff, not ideology. What do we get? Why should I care?
- kevinak 5y ago
  I can't speak for other people but I personally believe most of the folks into Bitcoin aren't crazy libertarians longing for a world without a functioning society. It's a loud minority. With regards to practical wins I can see a number that are even playing out today: - The ability to skirt sanctions making it possible to donate to organisations that are deemed "illegal" - Banking for those that are deemed unprofitable by banks. El Salvador has a large portion of unbanked citizens. Making it possible for them to interact with the wider world economy seems like a good thing to me? - The ability for people in extreme situations to store value in something other than their governments currency. Think Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Turkey, etc. - Promotes the build-out of new energy production; especially renewables since they are the cheapest form of electricity. This is a topic that deserves a thread in itself so probably not worth going into here. You should care because the world doesn't exist solely in the privileged western hemisphere.
  - oblio 5y ago
    I agree with all of that, but 99% of actual crypto usage I hear about is in rich countries, as speculation and as pyramid schemes. I'd really, really love to hear about stories of widespread cryptocurrency usage in developing countries. Also, considering the low transaction rates and the high transaction fees, how would this magic vision of the future work for poor people, anyway?
    - kevinak 5y ago
      I agree, most of the crypto usage is just speculation. I'd even go so far as to say 99.999% of all cryptocurrencies are scams of some sort, either incidental or intentional. I view Bitcoin as pretty different to the others. I'd suggest looking for news stories or posts from El Salvador. You can find both positive and negative ones, of course. The low transaction rates and high transaction fees argument isn't really valid anymore. A lot of the transactions have moved to L2 (Lightning Network) and thus current transaction fees on Bitcoin are regularly reaching $0.05. Using LN you also bypass any bottlenecks associated with number of transactions per second and confirmation time.

pnutjam 5y ago

Duh, it solves the; other people are making money and not me part. But not for you of course, for the crypto scammers.