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Does this really matter though? Is it any different to drug lord having a tonne of dirty cash they can’t use anywhere because all the useful places you could pu

Does this really matter though? Is it any different to drug lord having a tonne of dirty cash they can’t use anywhere because all the useful places you could put it want nothing to do with you? Watching from the sidelines, the Crypto world seems to just be morphing into the normal financial world.

exdsq 4y ago
> Watching from the sidelines, the Crypto world seems to just be morphing into the normal financial world. Say this is true, how amazing would that be for countries without existing banking infrastructure to easily access it?
- closedloop129 4y ago
  Can't they already use WeChat and AliPay?
  - exdsq 4y ago
    How do you do that without a bank account?
- chii 4y ago
  this is already being done via mobile phones. Crypto doesn't solve the problem of being unbanked. In fact, the requirement that you need good internet speed for crypto to run locally means it's even harder for a place without infrastructure to participate.
  - searchableguy 4y ago
    In India, everyone has a phone even if they do not have a roof, bank account, proper 3 meals a day, etc. Bank accounts also require minimum balance, address and identity proof which is hard to get for some, local branch is necessary to open an account due to regulation and quality can vary wildly even for urban centres. > In fact, the requirement that you need good internet speed for crypto to run locally means it's even harder for a place without infrastructure to participate. Internet costs less than $2 for monthly unlimited data. You can find 300-500 Mbps broadband in small towns of country where you won't find roads or basic hospitals.
    - exdsq 4y ago
      This. So many people who dislike crypto also assume the world looks like the US - access to banking, trust in their government, trust in their central bank, access to international finance… If the entire world looked identical to the US then I can understand it’s not as useful. If the entire world ran on regional versions of M-Pesa…
- dmitriid 4y ago
  So the countries would have access to stable internet (can't have crypto without it). This access is fast and cheap enough for unbanked people to access it. These unbanked people would also have access to things like smartphones and computers because crypto doesn't exist in real world. And yet those countries would not have banking infrastructure. Nice. Nice. Any such countries exist?
  - exdsq 4y ago
    You can actually interact with some crypto projects over SMS, and at the moment there are countries where the majority of txs are SMS mobile credit swaps. The issue is these don’t offer things like account histories, you can’t access financial products like loans (i.e micro loans) and remittance payments are hard to do from abroad in this way. But actually smart phones and internet access is surprisingly high in sub Saharan africa where they primarily still use SMS trading. And yes, crypto is starting to catch on out there as an alternative.
    - dmitriid 4y ago
      > You can actually interact with some crypto projects over SMS Keyword: some. Also, banking over SMS was a thing long before crypto. > But actually smart phones and internet access is surprisingly high in sub Saharan africa where they primarily still use SMS trading. Then it will be swallowed by something smilar to AliPay. Not by crypto.
      - exdsq 4y ago
        How do you sign up to AliPay?
        dmitriid 4y ago
        Quote, emphasis mine: "Something similar to AliPay"
        exdsq 4y ago
- lottin 4y ago
  Can you name a single country that doesn't have a "banking infrastructure", other than perhaps North Korea?
  - exdsq 4y ago
    How about all the communities that use mobile credit over SMS for finance?
OtomotO 4y ago
Yes, it's different, because for a drug lord not being able to access some amount of dirty cash is very inconvenient, while for the average person on the flag of a regime, it may be an end
- papito 4y ago
  "There are a few people in the world who get locked out from banking by an oppressive regime" is just another rather unconvincing argument for crypto. Yes, let's upend the world's financial system, evolving and improving for centuries, for THAT. Next it will be "but crypto will let you monetize your private data". Yeah no, it won't.
  - concordDance 4y ago
    You can get locked out of your bank account due to institutional incompetence (happened to a friend of mine in Spain) or due to being on the wrong side of a political argument (e.g. donating to the protesting truckers in Canada). I think there's a lot of value in being slightly harder to oppress by the political classes or arse-covering and uncaring bank managers.
    - papito 4y ago
      And the solution is? Have a system where I can lose ALL my money by forgetting a password? Or when a crypto exchange goes boom and my life's savings are not FDIC ensured? I am sure your friend could get back in into the bank account. Being a random subject to a dumb banking accident is not the reason to upend the financial lives of billions.
      - OtomotO 4y ago
        It's not a binary decision though. You can have some money in cash, some amount in real estate, gold, crypto... Depends on how much you have etc. But it's not a "everything has to be crypto" or nothing may.
      - Jon_Lowtek 4y ago

exdsq 4y ago

> Watching from the sidelines, the Crypto world seems to just be morphing into the normal financial world. Say this is true, how amazing would that be for countries without existing banking infrastructure to easily access it?

closedloop129 4y ago
Can't they already use WeChat and AliPay?
- exdsq 4y ago
  How do you do that without a bank account?
chii 4y ago
this is already being done via mobile phones. Crypto doesn't solve the problem of being unbanked. In fact, the requirement that you need good internet speed for crypto to run locally means it's even harder for a place without infrastructure to participate.
- searchableguy 4y ago
  In India, everyone has a phone even if they do not have a roof, bank account, proper 3 meals a day, etc. Bank accounts also require minimum balance, address and identity proof which is hard to get for some, local branch is necessary to open an account due to regulation and quality can vary wildly even for urban centres. > In fact, the requirement that you need good internet speed for crypto to run locally means it's even harder for a place without infrastructure to participate. Internet costs less than $2 for monthly unlimited data. You can find 300-500 Mbps broadband in small towns of country where you won't find roads or basic hospitals.
  - exdsq 4y ago
    This. So many people who dislike crypto also assume the world looks like the US - access to banking, trust in their government, trust in their central bank, access to international finance… If the entire world looked identical to the US then I can understand it’s not as useful. If the entire world ran on regional versions of M-Pesa…
dmitriid 4y ago
So the countries would have access to stable internet (can't have crypto without it). This access is fast and cheap enough for unbanked people to access it. These unbanked people would also have access to things like smartphones and computers because crypto doesn't exist in real world. And yet those countries would not have banking infrastructure. Nice. Nice. Any such countries exist?
- exdsq 4y ago
  You can actually interact with some crypto projects over SMS, and at the moment there are countries where the majority of txs are SMS mobile credit swaps. The issue is these don’t offer things like account histories, you can’t access financial products like loans (i.e micro loans) and remittance payments are hard to do from abroad in this way. But actually smart phones and internet access is surprisingly high in sub Saharan africa where they primarily still use SMS trading. And yes, crypto is starting to catch on out there as an alternative.
  - dmitriid 4y ago
    > You can actually interact with some crypto projects over SMS Keyword: some. Also, banking over SMS was a thing long before crypto. > But actually smart phones and internet access is surprisingly high in sub Saharan africa where they primarily still use SMS trading. Then it will be swallowed by something smilar to AliPay. Not by crypto.
    - exdsq 4y ago
      How do you sign up to AliPay?
      - dmitriid 4y ago
        Quote, emphasis mine: "Something similar to AliPay"
        exdsq 4y ago
lottin 4y ago
Can you name a single country that doesn't have a "banking infrastructure", other than perhaps North Korea?
- exdsq 4y ago
  How about all the communities that use mobile credit over SMS for finance?

OtomotO 4y ago

Yes, it's different, because for a drug lord not being able to access some amount of dirty cash is very inconvenient, while for the average person on the flag of a regime, it may be an end

papito 4y ago
"There are a few people in the world who get locked out from banking by an oppressive regime" is just another rather unconvincing argument for crypto. Yes, let's upend the world's financial system, evolving and improving for centuries, for THAT. Next it will be "but crypto will let you monetize your private data". Yeah no, it won't.
- concordDance 4y ago
  You can get locked out of your bank account due to institutional incompetence (happened to a friend of mine in Spain) or due to being on the wrong side of a political argument (e.g. donating to the protesting truckers in Canada). I think there's a lot of value in being slightly harder to oppress by the political classes or arse-covering and uncaring bank managers.
  - papito 4y ago
    And the solution is? Have a system where I can lose ALL my money by forgetting a password? Or when a crypto exchange goes boom and my life's savings are not FDIC ensured? I am sure your friend could get back in into the bank account. Being a random subject to a dumb banking accident is not the reason to upend the financial lives of billions.
    - OtomotO 4y ago
      It's not a binary decision though. You can have some money in cash, some amount in real estate, gold, crypto... Depends on how much you have etc. But it's not a "everything has to be crypto" or nothing may.
    - Jon_Lowtek 4y ago