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> actual currency What is actual currency and why does it have value? And do you feel "actual currency" is perfect as-is with no room for any improvement?

crispyambulance 5y ago
Nothing is perfect. But if we're going to talk about "room for improvement" crypto is much farther from being perfect than the US dollar, Euro, Yen and virtually any other fiat currency that seem to have so many issues according to the crypto enthusiasts. In fact, crypto currency can't even function as a currency at this point. Not even close.
AvAn12 5y ago
Currency, as a concept, is very precisely defined and also exhaustively studied. Actual currency is also controlled by policy-makers and regulatory regimes in every country on earth. Actual currency is a complex concept but one that has been with human civilization for as long as it has been around. One decent definition here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency Of course if you are asking as a rhetorical question - there is room for improvement. BUT - there have been millennia of variations on the concept, experiments, and many failures. As recent history, why don't you read about the United States prior to the Federal Reserve Act. Each state (or even smaller jurisdictions or communities) could produce their own currencies. Company towns operated on their own scrip (analogous to their own chains). How was that? Imagine taking a trip from Town A to Town B and discovering that your money is not accepted at the Town B tavern and inn. Or, is accepted but at a 50% discount to Town B's currency. Which is not accepted for purchase in town A. That was reality in the US and in other places too. Actual modern fiat currency is still imperfect, as is every cryptocurrency, every computer, and every other thing devised by humans. But. Somehow we have around $90 trillion (equivalent) of economic activity on our humble and imperfect planet, operating on fiat currency systems. So, I'd ask back, (1) what are the shortcomings of this amazingly successful world economy that operates on fiat currencies and (2) how, precisely, does cryptocurrency improve upon these shortcomings, WITHOUT creating negative externalities that negate proposed benefit?

crispyambulance 5y ago

Nothing is perfect. But if we're going to talk about "room for improvement" crypto is much farther from being perfect than the US dollar, Euro, Yen and virtually any other fiat currency that seem to have so many issues according to the crypto enthusiasts. In fact, crypto currency can't even function as a currency at this point. Not even close.

AvAn12 5y ago

Currency, as a concept, is very precisely defined and also exhaustively studied. Actual currency is also controlled by policy-makers and regulatory regimes in every country on earth. Actual currency is a complex concept but one that has been with human civilization for as long as it has been around. One decent definition here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency Of course if you are asking as a rhetorical question - there is room for improvement. BUT - there have been millennia of variations on the concept, experiments, and many failures. As recent history, why don't you read about the United States prior to the Federal Reserve Act. Each state (or even smaller jurisdictions or communities) could produce their own currencies. Company towns operated on their own scrip (analogous to their own chains). How was that? Imagine taking a trip from Town A to Town B and discovering that your money is not accepted at the Town B tavern and inn. Or, is accepted but at a 50% discount to Town B's currency. Which is not accepted for purchase in town A. That was reality in the US and in other places too. Actual modern fiat currency is still imperfect, as is every cryptocurrency, every computer, and every other thing devised by humans. But. Somehow we have around $90 trillion (equivalent) of economic activity on our humble and imperfect planet, operating on fiat currency systems. So, I'd ask back, (1) what are the shortcomings of this amazingly successful world economy that operates on fiat currencies and (2) how, precisely, does cryptocurrency improve upon these shortcomings, WITHOUT creating negative externalities that negate proposed benefit?