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I work for one of the most well known, fully decentralised, opensource crypto currencies. I'm therefore quite familiar with our objectives (to take over the wor

by g5095 5y ago

I work for one of the most well known, fully decentralised, opensource crypto currencies. I'm therefore quite familiar with our objectives (to take over the world, mwhaha) .. but no seriously: 1. Govts can (and should) regulate -exchanges- who are setting the exchange rate at the same time as offering to be the bank for poorly educated crypto holders, so they can use folks money to buy low and sell high. 2. Govts (already) make it a legal obligation to declare and pay tax, crypto is no different than dealing in cash. People who break the laws of their country should be tried under those laws, ie: tax evasion.. this isn't new to crypto. What the RBI are saying is they object to crypto removing their ability to.. (see point 1.) control the supply. When they talk about managing the economy, what they mean is 'their ability to print money'. Furthermore they argue their ability to make up the rules as they go is enshrined and justified by the notion that 'that's how it's always been done'.. well welcome to technological advancement? Crypto is FAR from perfect right now but it is based on a premise that a truly fair and un-cheatable system is possible, and that has govts terrified.

digitcatphd 5y ago
Unfortunately, I suspect this will continue. There is undoubtedly a place for Crypto, but I would advise those who believe it will replace 'fiat' to take a course in economics or learn the role of the federal reserve and why it was created in the US. Political views aside, many believe economic policy to be a key pillar of a government and anything threatening this power will be squashed at all costs in countries where this pillar exists. Where this pillar exists being the key here, which is why we are seeing national adoption in countries that lack it. Despite this, an outright ban is indeed lazy and removes a country from the global Crypto economy.
- m00dy 5y ago
  Just take a walk in one of the popular neighborhoods in Istanbul and ask who Jerome Powell is to one of the random people there. They will tell you. Federal Reserve was created for some reason in the past. But, I think we might need something better now.
  - digitcatphd 5y ago
    My argument is not premised on if Crypto creates a superior monetary system or not, but rather any government seeking to protect its most guarded powers will squash it.
RugnirViking 5y ago
I don't care if governments print money. Contrary to popular wisdom, 2-3% inflation per year is intended by central banks, because to have less that that reduces investment in venture capital and reduces the incentive to start buisnesses/do productive things with your money. They don't print money to "cheat" or because they want more money, that would be stupid - the overall amount minted in most countries is barely above the replacement rate for currency lost/destroyed/missing. If they were doing it to profit, the amount printed is just a drop in the ocean comapred to the amount made through tax, so it would be a stupid idea. Governments control the money supply specifically to control the inflation rate, which is a lever they can move to respond to market conditions, keeping it low when the economy is growing, and raising it during recessions to incentivise investment. When governments can't do that, recessions hit MUCH harder, see: greece, portugal, ireland, and many other countries in the eurozone who weren't able to use monetary policy and were hit by devastating recessions as a result. In any case, you "work" for an open source currency? I presume some money is earmarked from the transaction cost to pay developers?
- drexlspivey 5y ago
  Seems like they aren’t doing a very good job since inflation is currently 3-4x the target.
  - RugnirViking 5y ago
    Do you think thats because the central bank maliciously printed a couple million dollars (hilariously low compared to the trillions of dollars the government handles) or because the world went through a pandemic, a recession and one of the largest demographic changes in the last 50 years? Hint: across all countries in europe, the average inflation rate was also well above target.
    - drexlspivey 5y ago
      I think they printed way too much money as it is obvious by your own benchmark. Another data point that shows that stimulus was too high is that people straight up stop working (check the subscriber growth in r/antiwork for example). I don’t get your point about “a couple million dollars”, the stimulus was in the order of 10 trillion dollars
captn3m0 5y ago
It's not just about controlling the supply. India has foreign exchange regulations to keep the country's economy stable. This includes regulating both the inflow (Investments from foreign firms) and the outflow (remittances and more) of foreign exchange. Crypto (by design) bypasses all these controls. Even large crypto exchanges cannot abide by them: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108178/india-law-enforcement-agency-ed-crypto-exchange-wazirx-fema https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108178/india-law-enforce...
pankajdoharey 5y ago
I think RBI governor did not consider many scenarios, he says "ban is unlikely to be effective is a superficial argument", i believe banning would be ineffective because that will at any rate see a flight of untraceable capital to safer havens. Those who have made impressive gains wont sit there hoping to get crashed and burnt. If the government is after taxes they have to legalize it, if they are after power to arbitrarily exercise monetary easing well tough luck technology trumps bad actors and arbitrary systems.

by g5095 5y ago

digitcatphd 5y ago

Unfortunately, I suspect this will continue. There is undoubtedly a place for Crypto, but I would advise those who believe it will replace 'fiat' to take a course in economics or learn the role of the federal reserve and why it was created in the US. Political views aside, many believe economic policy to be a key pillar of a government and anything threatening this power will be squashed at all costs in countries where this pillar exists. Where this pillar exists being the key here, which is why we are seeing national adoption in countries that lack it. Despite this, an outright ban is indeed lazy and removes a country from the global Crypto economy.

m00dy 5y ago
Just take a walk in one of the popular neighborhoods in Istanbul and ask who Jerome Powell is to one of the random people there. They will tell you. Federal Reserve was created for some reason in the past. But, I think we might need something better now.
- digitcatphd 5y ago
  My argument is not premised on if Crypto creates a superior monetary system or not, but rather any government seeking to protect its most guarded powers will squash it.

RugnirViking 5y ago

I don't care if governments print money. Contrary to popular wisdom, 2-3% inflation per year is intended by central banks, because to have less that that reduces investment in venture capital and reduces the incentive to start buisnesses/do productive things with your money. They don't print money to "cheat" or because they want more money, that would be stupid - the overall amount minted in most countries is barely above the replacement rate for currency lost/destroyed/missing. If they were doing it to profit, the amount printed is just a drop in the ocean comapred to the amount made through tax, so it would be a stupid idea. Governments control the money supply specifically to control the inflation rate, which is a lever they can move to respond to market conditions, keeping it low when the economy is growing, and raising it during recessions to incentivise investment. When governments can't do that, recessions hit MUCH harder, see: greece, portugal, ireland, and many other countries in the eurozone who weren't able to use monetary policy and were hit by devastating recessions as a result. In any case, you "work" for an open source currency? I presume some money is earmarked from the transaction cost to pay developers?

drexlspivey 5y ago
Seems like they aren’t doing a very good job since inflation is currently 3-4x the target.
- RugnirViking 5y ago
  Do you think thats because the central bank maliciously printed a couple million dollars (hilariously low compared to the trillions of dollars the government handles) or because the world went through a pandemic, a recession and one of the largest demographic changes in the last 50 years? Hint: across all countries in europe, the average inflation rate was also well above target.
  - drexlspivey 5y ago
    I think they printed way too much money as it is obvious by your own benchmark. Another data point that shows that stimulus was too high is that people straight up stop working (check the subscriber growth in r/antiwork for example). I don’t get your point about “a couple million dollars”, the stimulus was in the order of 10 trillion dollars

captn3m0 5y ago

It's not just about controlling the supply. India has foreign exchange regulations to keep the country's economy stable. This includes regulating both the inflow (Investments from foreign firms) and the outflow (remittances and more) of foreign exchange. Crypto (by design) bypasses all these controls. Even large crypto exchanges cannot abide by them: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108178/india-law-enforcement-agency-ed-crypto-exchange-wazirx-fema https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108178/india-law-enforce...

pankajdoharey 5y ago

I think RBI governor did not consider many scenarios, he says "ban is unlikely to be effective is a superficial argument", i believe banning would be ineffective because that will at any rate see a flight of untraceable capital to safer havens. Those who have made impressive gains wont sit there hoping to get crashed and burnt. If the government is after taxes they have to legalize it, if they are after power to arbitrarily exercise monetary easing well tough luck technology trumps bad actors and arbitrary systems.