4 ms·

There's two value for me: - the possibility to hide some transactions out of the traditional system (monero / zcash). I mean you may disagree, it's mostly ideo

There's two value for me: - the possibility to hide some transactions out of the traditional system (monero / zcash). I mean you may disagree, it's mostly ideological for some honest people and practical to some dishonest / drug dealers / evaders. - the fact they are decentralised currencies that are now an actual alternative to people's national currency. this may look silly to you if you live in europe / usa, but a LOT of less developed countries such as lebanon, turkey, and a lot in south america and africa have seen the value of their currency decrease steadily wrt the dollar. So ANY of this people would have been better of buying either dollars (which may be hard locally / with taxes), and even better off any crypto in the past 10 years instead and they would have better life savings. tlrd The biggest value of bitcoin now is to be alternative store of value, which you can acess pretty much anywhere in the world in a decentralised fashion. Even if the tech were useless, its DE FACTO an alternative now which doesn't have less value that 80% of local / national currencies.

roland35 5y ago
I understand the appeal of a currency not controlled by a bad government, but could we honestly expect third world residents to be able to understand and use the technology required for crypto? I have been writing software for a decade and I still can barely keep up with what is going on.
- davidguetta 5y ago
  What ? exchanging bitcoin in the street seemed pretty simple last time I checked on localbitcoins. you dont need to know the tech at all. Plus, you'd be surprised how moder and tech-saavy young people in developing countries are (at least in the major cities).
  - roland35 4y ago
    Ok I just looked at local Bitcoin... I need to select a currency and pick traders, then select one who accepts an actual method I can use to exchange fiat currency such as a specific bank or zelle... How is this easier exactly? It just seems like a bunch of rigamarole for no benefit, with the added risk of scams
gravitycorn 5y ago
But do you really access them in a decentralised fashion? Imagine a pariah state where you want to evade heavy inflation by acquiring some trusted and agreed upon “store of value”, let’s say btc. Assuming you don’t want to run massive covert mining rigs converting your local energy to btc you need an exchange, which can be regulated in the same way the dollar exchanges are regulated. You could argue that you can onboard people to btc by illegal barter, but for that you need major gatekeepers aquiring the btc or running said mining rigs in the first place. Maybe ransomware extortion might be an alternative. They then have to be willing to distribute those deflationary btc to the people by exchange against goods or inflationary cash without adding a big premium on top. Of course I am oversimplifying, but it’s not as easy as one would think. And we haven’t even touched on what a dystopian place this country will be when a completely public and auditable database of cash flows will be the ledger of choice in an autocratic (or any) country. Also, a question always worth asking when talking about blockchain: Where would you store your unrecoverable password to your life savings-account? Does your hair-dresser might know the amount of your life savings because you paid your last haircut with btc?
- davidguetta 5y ago
  Mm what ? As far as i know you dont' need a "exchange" but simply a wallet (which is a key and a bunch of passphrase) and an internet connection, and another person with the same thing willing to exchange. You may be in a pariah state but the system works because of mining all around the world, not just in your state.
  - tsimionescu 5y ago
    Say you have 100 million Turkish lira, and suspect that Erdogan's terrible policies will reduce the value of that, so you want to buy bitcoin with it. How are you going to acquire BTC without access to an exchange (or some equivalent) that agrees to buy your lira? You could buy mining equipment and electricity of course, but then the state may crack down on your operation before you have a chance to recoup your investment. And even if they don't, if you then want to buy tomatoes at your local market, how are you going to buy lira for your BTC without an exchange (or equivalent)?

roland35 5y ago

I understand the appeal of a currency not controlled by a bad government, but could we honestly expect third world residents to be able to understand and use the technology required for crypto? I have been writing software for a decade and I still can barely keep up with what is going on.

davidguetta 5y ago
What ? exchanging bitcoin in the street seemed pretty simple last time I checked on localbitcoins. you dont need to know the tech at all. Plus, you'd be surprised how moder and tech-saavy young people in developing countries are (at least in the major cities).
- roland35 4y ago
  Ok I just looked at local Bitcoin... I need to select a currency and pick traders, then select one who accepts an actual method I can use to exchange fiat currency such as a specific bank or zelle... How is this easier exactly? It just seems like a bunch of rigamarole for no benefit, with the added risk of scams

gravitycorn 5y ago

But do you really access them in a decentralised fashion? Imagine a pariah state where you want to evade heavy inflation by acquiring some trusted and agreed upon “store of value”, let’s say btc. Assuming you don’t want to run massive covert mining rigs converting your local energy to btc you need an exchange, which can be regulated in the same way the dollar exchanges are regulated. You could argue that you can onboard people to btc by illegal barter, but for that you need major gatekeepers aquiring the btc or running said mining rigs in the first place. Maybe ransomware extortion might be an alternative. They then have to be willing to distribute those deflationary btc to the people by exchange against goods or inflationary cash without adding a big premium on top. Of course I am oversimplifying, but it’s not as easy as one would think. And we haven’t even touched on what a dystopian place this country will be when a completely public and auditable database of cash flows will be the ledger of choice in an autocratic (or any) country. Also, a question always worth asking when talking about blockchain: Where would you store your unrecoverable password to your life savings-account? Does your hair-dresser might know the amount of your life savings because you paid your last haircut with btc?

davidguetta 5y ago
Mm what ? As far as i know you dont' need a "exchange" but simply a wallet (which is a key and a bunch of passphrase) and an internet connection, and another person with the same thing willing to exchange. You may be in a pariah state but the system works because of mining all around the world, not just in your state.
- tsimionescu 5y ago
  Say you have 100 million Turkish lira, and suspect that Erdogan's terrible policies will reduce the value of that, so you want to buy bitcoin with it. How are you going to acquire BTC without access to an exchange (or some equivalent) that agrees to buy your lira? You could buy mining equipment and electricity of course, but then the state may crack down on your operation before you have a chance to recoup your investment. And even if they don't, if you then want to buy tomatoes at your local market, how are you going to buy lira for your BTC without an exchange (or equivalent)?