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Is it really your selling point that crypto is good because Russians can wage war while circumventing sanctions? The whole point of sanctions is to pressure bad

Is it really your selling point that crypto is good because Russians can wage war while circumventing sanctions? The whole point of sanctions is to pressure bad actors to change. You've invented a technology that allows them to continue doing evil? Hurrah?

yanderekko 5y ago
>Is it really your selling point that crypto is good because Russians can wage war while circumventing sanctions? No, this is a person sending money to their brother, who is presumably not engaged in "waging war."
- Tretiotrr 5y ago
  The timing for such a bad argument is bad and it is still shitty. Crypto bros telling us how great it is for the poor people in such countries to get money. Now we see the downside of this as well. Oligarchs protecting their assets as well. Leveled playfield. No added benefit from crypto anymore. And yes right now for me, sanctioning is more critical to me to increase the pressure on Russia to stop killing people than Russian people being able to use crypto.
  - yanderekko 5y ago
    Well, one can easily disagree with the justice of these sorts of indiscriminate collective punishments. At the end of the day you're going to have a hard time justifying to someone why they should feel morally compelled to cut off remittances to their family members because of these sort of high-level geopolitical concerns. The more that financial repression and "cancellations" become mainstream, the more obvious crypto's use cases become - whether or not you support the individual examples of repression.
    - Tretiotrr 5y ago
      I'm not sure what you mean? How much is a human life worth to you? How much are we all responsible for everything and nothing? Collective punishment? It's just that there are limitations on tools global politics can use. Independently of this perhaps my expectations on fellow humans are different than yours. And at the end of the day crypto can be blocked and will be blocked sooner than later. every event like this which circumvent global mechanism will be worked against
oceanplexian 5y ago
> The whole point of sanctions is to pressure bad actors to change. This argument seems completely non-sensical to me. Western governments have been arguing for 3+ decades that we do business with countries like China because integrating them into the global economic system will encourage them to change. But now we're making the same argument that we need to expel Russia from the global economic system because it will encourage them to change. What? At least crypto doesn't flip-flop on what it's moral or ethical purpose is. It's just a tool and an exchange of value, not a weapon.
- danaris 5y ago
  They're the same argument. The sanctions mean nothing if you haven't already integrated the countries into the global economic system, because they won't be losing anything. I'll grant the implementation leaves a lot to be desired, but the principle is quite sound.

yanderekko 5y ago

>Is it really your selling point that crypto is good because Russians can wage war while circumventing sanctions? No, this is a person sending money to their brother, who is presumably not engaged in "waging war."

Tretiotrr 5y ago
The timing for such a bad argument is bad and it is still shitty. Crypto bros telling us how great it is for the poor people in such countries to get money. Now we see the downside of this as well. Oligarchs protecting their assets as well. Leveled playfield. No added benefit from crypto anymore. And yes right now for me, sanctioning is more critical to me to increase the pressure on Russia to stop killing people than Russian people being able to use crypto.
- yanderekko 5y ago
  Well, one can easily disagree with the justice of these sorts of indiscriminate collective punishments. At the end of the day you're going to have a hard time justifying to someone why they should feel morally compelled to cut off remittances to their family members because of these sort of high-level geopolitical concerns. The more that financial repression and "cancellations" become mainstream, the more obvious crypto's use cases become - whether or not you support the individual examples of repression.
  - Tretiotrr 5y ago
    I'm not sure what you mean? How much is a human life worth to you? How much are we all responsible for everything and nothing? Collective punishment? It's just that there are limitations on tools global politics can use. Independently of this perhaps my expectations on fellow humans are different than yours. And at the end of the day crypto can be blocked and will be blocked sooner than later. every event like this which circumvent global mechanism will be worked against

oceanplexian 5y ago

> The whole point of sanctions is to pressure bad actors to change. This argument seems completely non-sensical to me. Western governments have been arguing for 3+ decades that we do business with countries like China because integrating them into the global economic system will encourage them to change. But now we're making the same argument that we need to expel Russia from the global economic system because it will encourage them to change. What? At least crypto doesn't flip-flop on what it's moral or ethical purpose is. It's just a tool and an exchange of value, not a weapon.

danaris 5y ago
They're the same argument. The sanctions mean nothing if you haven't already integrated the countries into the global economic system, because they won't be losing anything. I'll grant the implementation leaves a lot to be desired, but the principle is quite sound.