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I'll bite! Why does it have to be crypto currency? Why couldn't I load ten dollars credit into YouTube, in exchange for 1000 credits - one of which I'd use for

by iamben 4y ago

I'll bite! Why does it have to be crypto currency? Why couldn't I load ten dollars credit into YouTube, in exchange for 1000 credits - one of which I'd use for every video I watch? Google has my card on file already, I'd trust them to deduct one credit per video properly. I'm pretty sure some startups have already attempted a micropayment content gate. You pay them 5 bucks, they portion out the money to the content creators every month based on the articles you choose to read. Other than an immediate payment (in the case where you're not running it yourself), why does it need cryptocurrency? Not for or against btw!

cowtools 4y ago
>I'll bite! Why does it have to be crypto currency? It doesn't. It could just be some secure, open cryptographic payment system like Digicash or GNU Taler, but financial institutions refuse to implement those types of systems because they benefit from the vendor-lock-in, surveilance, insecurity, and ambiguity of the existing system. >Why couldn't I load ten dollars credit into YouTube, in exchange for 1000 credits - one of which I'd use for every video I watch? Google has my card on file already Because that requires you to set up a pre-existing buisness relationship with every service you interact with. "Works great" for big companies like youtube, netflix, not so much for news websites, blogs, forums, etc. that rely on surveilance and easily blockable ads. The friction associated with that is what makes the current system uncompetitive. You couldn't just do a microtransaction with a random self-hosted website- there's too much risk on both sides: they could steal your identity, you could hit them with chargebacks, etc. >I'm pretty sure some startups have already attempted a micropayment content gate. You pay them 5 bucks, they portion out the money to the content creators every month based on the articles you choose to read. I would congratulate them on reinventing paypal. Watch as they re-invent vendor lock-in and hike up the fees once they gain signifigant market share. The purpose of cryptocurrency is to eliminate these middlemen so users can exchange peer to peer using FOSS, and we are not beholden to the whims of a single company like Patreon. >Other than an immediate payment (in the case where you're not running it yourself), why does it need cryptocurrency? It doesn't need to be cryptocurrency. It needs to be secure, private, cheap, reliable and competitive. All things which the current payment systems are not, and will never be so long as they are run by rent-seeking intermediaries like SWIFT, PayPal, Apple, Google, etc.

by iamben 4y ago

cowtools 4y ago

>I'll bite! Why does it have to be crypto currency? It doesn't. It could just be some secure, open cryptographic payment system like Digicash or GNU Taler, but financial institutions refuse to implement those types of systems because they benefit from the vendor-lock-in, surveilance, insecurity, and ambiguity of the existing system. >Why couldn't I load ten dollars credit into YouTube, in exchange for 1000 credits - one of which I'd use for every video I watch? Google has my card on file already Because that requires you to set up a pre-existing buisness relationship with every service you interact with. "Works great" for big companies like youtube, netflix, not so much for news websites, blogs, forums, etc. that rely on surveilance and easily blockable ads. The friction associated with that is what makes the current system uncompetitive. You couldn't just do a microtransaction with a random self-hosted website- there's too much risk on both sides: they could steal your identity, you could hit them with chargebacks, etc. >I'm pretty sure some startups have already attempted a micropayment content gate. You pay them 5 bucks, they portion out the money to the content creators every month based on the articles you choose to read. I would congratulate them on reinventing paypal. Watch as they re-invent vendor lock-in and hike up the fees once they gain signifigant market share. The purpose of cryptocurrency is to eliminate these middlemen so users can exchange peer to peer using FOSS, and we are not beholden to the whims of a single company like Patreon. >Other than an immediate payment (in the case where you're not running it yourself), why does it need cryptocurrency? It doesn't need to be cryptocurrency. It needs to be secure, private, cheap, reliable and competitive. All things which the current payment systems are not, and will never be so long as they are run by rent-seeking intermediaries like SWIFT, PayPal, Apple, Google, etc.