4 ms·

When its adoption in its successful niches and its rejection from its unsuccessful niches is so complete, that it is boring to even mention it.

MereInterest 4y ago
Pray tell, what are its successful niches? I haven't yet seen any.
- dTal 4y ago
  Bitcoin: internet-based black markets NFTs: money laundering, scamming idiots (similar to the fine art world - NFTs make a ton more sense if you view them as an attempt to create "digital fine art" in the same way as Bitcoin is digital gold).
  - luciusdomitius 4y ago
    Fine art world is not a scam, but tax-evasion.
    - arbitrage 4y ago
      For the people with $$$$, it's tax evasion. For people with $ or $$, it's a scam.
- bigbillheck 4y ago
  It's pretty good for fraud.
- roenxi 4y ago
  There was that Canadian trucker protest where the idea was floated of de-banking them. At that point, a fungible asset worth a few thousand dollars that is a little hard to seize without a court order and serious police involvement would be exactly what they needed. That was the tipping point that got me in to crypto. It is fit for purpose. I don't want to be debanked suddenly by my political opponents.
  - jameshart 4y ago
    Do you think debanking trucker protesters would not have required a court order backed by police action? How would you make use of such an asset, if a law or court order had made it illegal for regular financial institutions to transact with you?
    - roenxi 4y ago
      BBC says [0] there was no need for court orders, it was to be coordinated through the banks, probably under the banking regulatory framework. "With no need for court orders, banks can freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests." is the sentence I'm looking at. And I can find someone who is in the banking system, then trade them crypto in exchange for them buying my groceries for me. It'd work as a temporary arrangement while the situation calms down. Even if the exchange rate is bad it is still better than having no liquid assets, I don't want to have to barter with jewellery or something. Crypto is the best option as far as I can tell. If you have a better one do suggest it, but frankly I think Monero is the best option. Better than nothing. I'm arrogant enough to think I have better political protection than a truck driver, but not arrogant enough to stake a month with no way to pay for food on it. [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60383385 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60383385
      - jameshart 4y ago
        And “Ms Freeland said they were broadening Canada's "Terrorist Financing" rules to cover cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding platforms, as part of the effort.” is also a sentence in that article. If the emergency powers enable them to freeze your bank assets without a court order surely they also allow them to deprive you of… whatever you think the crypto asset vehicle that would protect you from this outcome is.
        roenxi 4y ago
        The difference between that and a bank account ban is that I don't see a way for them to implement a crypto ban. They may as well legislate that said truckers are elephants - a legally interesting policy but with hard to determine practical implications. Australia has a soft ban on Monero, it isn't illegal but they've tried to make it difficult to buy using the same regulatory trick of pressuring the trading institutions. I assume because it is useful for trading drugs or something. That has had nearly no impact on my ability to buy some because in the world of crypto the government doesn't have a way of forcing me to deal with entities that follow their KYC laws. At least not without sending police to the door and they don't have the resources to pull that off. It isn't even clear they have the resources to figure out I bought Monero after buying an interim cryptocurrency. It'd be a massive waste of resources if they did, and it might not be feasible full stop. At a practical level, if something like that happened in Australia, one of those truckers could come to me and say "hey roenxi, I will give you $300 worth of Monero if you get me $150 worth of groceries". Or someday the reverse - basically barter. It is really, really hard for me to see how a government would prevent that without going seriously totalitarian in a way that the Trudeaus of the world haven't floated as an idea so far. But it is easy for me to see that a cryptocurrency would be a good way to execute that.

MereInterest 4y ago

Pray tell, what are its successful niches? I haven't yet seen any.

dTal 4y ago
Bitcoin: internet-based black markets NFTs: money laundering, scamming idiots (similar to the fine art world - NFTs make a ton more sense if you view them as an attempt to create "digital fine art" in the same way as Bitcoin is digital gold).
- luciusdomitius 4y ago
  Fine art world is not a scam, but tax-evasion.
  - arbitrage 4y ago
    For the people with $$$$, it's tax evasion. For people with $ or $$, it's a scam.
bigbillheck 4y ago
It's pretty good for fraud.
roenxi 4y ago
There was that Canadian trucker protest where the idea was floated of de-banking them. At that point, a fungible asset worth a few thousand dollars that is a little hard to seize without a court order and serious police involvement would be exactly what they needed. That was the tipping point that got me in to crypto. It is fit for purpose. I don't want to be debanked suddenly by my political opponents.
- jameshart 4y ago
  Do you think debanking trucker protesters would not have required a court order backed by police action? How would you make use of such an asset, if a law or court order had made it illegal for regular financial institutions to transact with you?
  - roenxi 4y ago
    BBC says [0] there was no need for court orders, it was to be coordinated through the banks, probably under the banking regulatory framework. "With no need for court orders, banks can freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests." is the sentence I'm looking at. And I can find someone who is in the banking system, then trade them crypto in exchange for them buying my groceries for me. It'd work as a temporary arrangement while the situation calms down. Even if the exchange rate is bad it is still better than having no liquid assets, I don't want to have to barter with jewellery or something. Crypto is the best option as far as I can tell. If you have a better one do suggest it, but frankly I think Monero is the best option. Better than nothing. I'm arrogant enough to think I have better political protection than a truck driver, but not arrogant enough to stake a month with no way to pay for food on it. [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60383385 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60383385
    - jameshart 4y ago
      And “Ms Freeland said they were broadening Canada's "Terrorist Financing" rules to cover cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding platforms, as part of the effort.” is also a sentence in that article. If the emergency powers enable them to freeze your bank assets without a court order surely they also allow them to deprive you of… whatever you think the crypto asset vehicle that would protect you from this outcome is.
      - roenxi 4y ago
        The difference between that and a bank account ban is that I don't see a way for them to implement a crypto ban. They may as well legislate that said truckers are elephants - a legally interesting policy but with hard to determine practical implications. Australia has a soft ban on Monero, it isn't illegal but they've tried to make it difficult to buy using the same regulatory trick of pressuring the trading institutions. I assume because it is useful for trading drugs or something. That has had nearly no impact on my ability to buy some because in the world of crypto the government doesn't have a way of forcing me to deal with entities that follow their KYC laws. At least not without sending police to the door and they don't have the resources to pull that off. It isn't even clear they have the resources to figure out I bought Monero after buying an interim cryptocurrency. It'd be a massive waste of resources if they did, and it might not be feasible full stop. At a practical level, if something like that happened in Australia, one of those truckers could come to me and say "hey roenxi, I will give you $300 worth of Monero if you get me $150 worth of groceries". Or someday the reverse - basically barter. It is really, really hard for me to see how a government would prevent that without going seriously totalitarian in a way that the Trudeaus of the world haven't floated as an idea so far. But it is easy for me to see that a cryptocurrency would be a good way to execute that.