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The purpose of decentralization is solely censorship resistance. It has nothing to do with consumer protections, consumer education, or easier to check software

The purpose of decentralization is solely censorship resistance. It has nothing to do with consumer protections, consumer education, or easier to check software.

dehrmann 5y ago
Censorship and consumer protections go together since they're both roles regulators play.
- tylersmith 5y ago
  Decentralization can't provide consumer protections regardless of what regulators do. The one thing it can do is resist censorship and things indistinguishable from censorship, like software failure.
elil17 5y ago
What exactly is censored when you use paper currency?
- randomhodler84 5y ago
  The amount. A real example is CNY, which is limit to 100 yuan notes, deliberately to make it hard to move large sums. 1000 USD bills exist but are very rare. 1000 euro note exists but I think that’s on the way out. Your point that cash is censorship resistant is good, yes and we need to make sure it remains, however the physical limitations are defacto censorship.
  - logifail 5y ago
    > 1000 euro note exists but I think that’s on the way out €500 was the largest, but as of April 2019 is no longer being issued. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/html/index.en.html https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/html/index.en.html
    - randomhodler84 5y ago
      My mistake. That’s that one I was referring to, the 500, being phased out. Thanks
  - sofixa 5y ago
    How is it censorship? Moving large amounts of cash is impractical due to physical constraints, but is still possible. And there are legitimate concerns at play for those limitations.
  - elil17 5y ago
    Sounds like something that only impacts rich people (aka almost no one). Also I’m not sure that “censor” means what you think it means.
  - lostcolony 5y ago
    >> 1000 USD bills exist but are very rare. Technically, $500, $5000, and $10000 also exist in private collections. They were last printed in 1945, and stopped being issued in 1969. They're worth far more than their denomination to collectors, understandably. Also, technically, $100k bills exist. They, however, were printed during the Great Depression and intended solely for transfers between federal reserve banks, and were never circulated. It's illegal to hold them privately, though there are some museums and things that have one.
- tylersmith 5y ago
  Cash has pretty decent censorship resistance. It's when going digital that it gets difficult because you either need a centralized clearinghouse to prevent double spends (Visa, PayPal, etc) or a BFT consensus algorithm ("cryptocurrency"). I'm fact when discussing both privacy and censorship resistance I often cite cash as a target goal.

The purpose of decentralization is solely censorship resistance. It has nothing to do with consumer protections, consumer education, or easier to check software.

dehrmann 5y ago

Censorship and consumer protections go together since they're both roles regulators play.

tylersmith 5y ago
Decentralization can't provide consumer protections regardless of what regulators do. The one thing it can do is resist censorship and things indistinguishable from censorship, like software failure.

elil17 5y ago

What exactly is censored when you use paper currency?

randomhodler84 5y ago
The amount. A real example is CNY, which is limit to 100 yuan notes, deliberately to make it hard to move large sums. 1000 USD bills exist but are very rare. 1000 euro note exists but I think that’s on the way out. Your point that cash is censorship resistant is good, yes and we need to make sure it remains, however the physical limitations are defacto censorship.
- logifail 5y ago
  > 1000 euro note exists but I think that’s on the way out €500 was the largest, but as of April 2019 is no longer being issued. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/html/index.en.html https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/html/index.en.html
  - randomhodler84 5y ago
    My mistake. That’s that one I was referring to, the 500, being phased out. Thanks
- sofixa 5y ago
  How is it censorship? Moving large amounts of cash is impractical due to physical constraints, but is still possible. And there are legitimate concerns at play for those limitations.
- elil17 5y ago
  Sounds like something that only impacts rich people (aka almost no one). Also I’m not sure that “censor” means what you think it means.
- lostcolony 5y ago
  >> 1000 USD bills exist but are very rare. Technically, $500, $5000, and $10000 also exist in private collections. They were last printed in 1945, and stopped being issued in 1969. They're worth far more than their denomination to collectors, understandably. Also, technically, $100k bills exist. They, however, were printed during the Great Depression and intended solely for transfers between federal reserve banks, and were never circulated. It's illegal to hold them privately, though there are some museums and things that have one.
tylersmith 5y ago
Cash has pretty decent censorship resistance. It's when going digital that it gets difficult because you either need a centralized clearinghouse to prevent double spends (Visa, PayPal, etc) or a BFT consensus algorithm ("cryptocurrency"). I'm fact when discussing both privacy and censorship resistance I often cite cash as a target goal.