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Nobody could see this coming! Lol Seriously, crypto has yet to solve any real world problems I’ve faced. And NFTs are just the worst. Money laundering schemes

Nobody could see this coming! Lol Seriously, crypto has yet to solve any real world problems I’ve faced. And NFTs are just the worst. Money laundering schemes at best. If I can’t buy an apple easily with crypto, it’s useless.

nikanj 4y ago
Fully anonymous global ransomware would be really hard without cryptos. Monetizing hacked boxes would be much tougher if you could not turn them into Monero miners.
- doopy1 4y ago
  It's not fully anonymous even WITH crypto. They have call centers. Banning crypto won't make ransomware go away, it will just increase the cost of ransom.
  - giaour 4y ago
    > Banning crypto won't make ransomware go away, it will just increase the cost of ransom. That must be why ransomware demands were so much higher in the pre-bitcoin era. Unless you're including the cost of sending a cargo jet full of cash or gold halfway around the world?
    - doopy1 4y ago
      Before bitcoin was still the early days of ransomware. It existed mostly as tech support scams. Now that the floodgates have been opened ransoms will go back to being high-risk western union payments and will be much higher. You can't put the cat back in the bag.
      - giaour 4y ago
        This is laughably naive. Western Union payments are high-risk for the ransomer, since they have to go pick the money up. Also, Western Union has pretty low limits on how much you can send ($10K for US->US transfers, less for international transfers). Getting a million dollars (a low ransom in today's ecosystem) via Western Union would require at least 100 pickups, each of which comes with a risk of getting arrested. There is a reason ransom amounts skyrocketed when cryptocurrency entered the picture, and no, it's not because it was "the early days" pre-bitcoin.
- phabricator 4y ago
  It wasn't that hard. Payment was in pre-paid credit cards.
  - giaour 4y ago
    Try to move millions across international borders with prepaid cards and tell me how that works out for you.
- bredren 4y ago
  So would dark markets. Dark markets are described as a small piece of the pie for LE. But P2P music sharing / digital music sales was also that way until they couldn't be ignored and ultimately destroyed traditional music distribution. There is a reason big, reliable markets get shut down and it isn't all exit scams. It's because they're incredibly successful and they would not be so without crypto. The ransomware market is too hard for most to get into and the "deals" take time to put together. There's not a great reason for them to prop up coin value. However, dark markets are open to just about anyone, and presumably haven't even begun to touch growth potential. All that said: throw in parent's value prop too--is bitcoin worth $20k a coin today? IDK, maybe? I sold bitcoin-embroidered hoodies at the first ever national bitcoin conference in san jose for half a coin and that seemed a bit nuts.
  - SturgeonsLaw 4y ago
    > But P2P music sharing / digital music sales was also that way until they couldn't be ignored and ultimately destroyed traditional music distribution. Traditional music distribution was buying an easily damaged CD for $20 a pop (in 90's dollars). We would have moved to digital distribution anyway, P2P was just a catalyst.
emilsedgh 4y ago
Crypto does solve a few real world issues (fast, global, cheap, secure, anonymized transfer of value). But it seems that some people thought it fixes the "i want to get rich fast" problem, and was bloated as a result. It was never meant for that problem.
- maxerickson 4y ago
  Except it isn't particularly fast, cheap, secure or anonymous.
- doopy1 4y ago
  No realistic takes on crypto allowed on HN, you might get banned.
  - chaps 4y ago
    Can you explain why you think it's realistic? Nothing they claim seems to hold much truth in-practice.
  - ethanbond 4y ago
    Describing crypto transactions as fast and cheap? Yeah, incredibly realistic!
  - arcturus17 4y ago
    The idea that crypto solved "fast, global, cheap, secure, anonymized transfer of value" is not "realistic" - it's preposterous.
    - doopy1 4y ago
      It's faster and cheaper than a bank transfer and receiving party can maintain anonymity, so yes it's realistic.
  - noAnswer 4y ago
    Bitcoin can only process 7 transactions per second globally. Ethereum 25. That is not fast. If you want to get an actual transfer cheapness goes out of the window. And it is not anonym either.
99_00 4y ago
If you can't use it to keep armed men authorized to use deadly force from putting you in a cage for the rest of your life it will at best be peripheral. That's why people use the currency of their nation. They must pay taxes and fees to exist as a part of society. Not doing so means you either fall off the social ladder or are imprisoned and have your life destroyed. It's one thing that Modern Monetary Theory gets right. The government creates demand for its currency through taxes and fees that must be paid under threat of violence. So you work and earn the currency to pay for your right to exist. Is that nice? No. But denying that the threat violence keeps this version of society together is denying reality. And trying to replace a system that is willing to use violence to maintain it's existence with dreams just doesn't work.
- junofan 4y ago
  So if taxes go up, there will be more demand for a currency? And if taxes go down, there will be less demand for a currency? I’m not sure that’s right.
  - 99_00 4y ago
    >So if taxes go up, there will be more demand for a currency No. Because an increase or decrease in taxes doesn't cause anyone to stop or start using currency, or convert from one currency to another.

nikanj 4y ago

Fully anonymous global ransomware would be really hard without cryptos. Monetizing hacked boxes would be much tougher if you could not turn them into Monero miners.

doopy1 4y ago
It's not fully anonymous even WITH crypto. They have call centers. Banning crypto won't make ransomware go away, it will just increase the cost of ransom.
- giaour 4y ago
  > Banning crypto won't make ransomware go away, it will just increase the cost of ransom. That must be why ransomware demands were so much higher in the pre-bitcoin era. Unless you're including the cost of sending a cargo jet full of cash or gold halfway around the world?
  - doopy1 4y ago
    Before bitcoin was still the early days of ransomware. It existed mostly as tech support scams. Now that the floodgates have been opened ransoms will go back to being high-risk western union payments and will be much higher. You can't put the cat back in the bag.
    - giaour 4y ago
      This is laughably naive. Western Union payments are high-risk for the ransomer, since they have to go pick the money up. Also, Western Union has pretty low limits on how much you can send ($10K for US->US transfers, less for international transfers). Getting a million dollars (a low ransom in today's ecosystem) via Western Union would require at least 100 pickups, each of which comes with a risk of getting arrested. There is a reason ransom amounts skyrocketed when cryptocurrency entered the picture, and no, it's not because it was "the early days" pre-bitcoin.
phabricator 4y ago
It wasn't that hard. Payment was in pre-paid credit cards.
- giaour 4y ago
  Try to move millions across international borders with prepaid cards and tell me how that works out for you.
bredren 4y ago
So would dark markets. Dark markets are described as a small piece of the pie for LE. But P2P music sharing / digital music sales was also that way until they couldn't be ignored and ultimately destroyed traditional music distribution. There is a reason big, reliable markets get shut down and it isn't all exit scams. It's because they're incredibly successful and they would not be so without crypto. The ransomware market is too hard for most to get into and the "deals" take time to put together. There's not a great reason for them to prop up coin value. However, dark markets are open to just about anyone, and presumably haven't even begun to touch growth potential. All that said: throw in parent's value prop too--is bitcoin worth $20k a coin today? IDK, maybe? I sold bitcoin-embroidered hoodies at the first ever national bitcoin conference in san jose for half a coin and that seemed a bit nuts.
- SturgeonsLaw 4y ago
  > But P2P music sharing / digital music sales was also that way until they couldn't be ignored and ultimately destroyed traditional music distribution. Traditional music distribution was buying an easily damaged CD for $20 a pop (in 90's dollars). We would have moved to digital distribution anyway, P2P was just a catalyst.

emilsedgh 4y ago

Crypto does solve a few real world issues (fast, global, cheap, secure, anonymized transfer of value). But it seems that some people thought it fixes the "i want to get rich fast" problem, and was bloated as a result. It was never meant for that problem.

maxerickson 4y ago
Except it isn't particularly fast, cheap, secure or anonymous.
doopy1 4y ago
No realistic takes on crypto allowed on HN, you might get banned.
- chaps 4y ago
  Can you explain why you think it's realistic? Nothing they claim seems to hold much truth in-practice.
- ethanbond 4y ago
  Describing crypto transactions as fast and cheap? Yeah, incredibly realistic!
- arcturus17 4y ago
  The idea that crypto solved "fast, global, cheap, secure, anonymized transfer of value" is not "realistic" - it's preposterous.
  - doopy1 4y ago
    It's faster and cheaper than a bank transfer and receiving party can maintain anonymity, so yes it's realistic.
- noAnswer 4y ago
  Bitcoin can only process 7 transactions per second globally. Ethereum 25. That is not fast. If you want to get an actual transfer cheapness goes out of the window. And it is not anonym either.

99_00 4y ago

If you can't use it to keep armed men authorized to use deadly force from putting you in a cage for the rest of your life it will at best be peripheral. That's why people use the currency of their nation. They must pay taxes and fees to exist as a part of society. Not doing so means you either fall off the social ladder or are imprisoned and have your life destroyed. It's one thing that Modern Monetary Theory gets right. The government creates demand for its currency through taxes and fees that must be paid under threat of violence. So you work and earn the currency to pay for your right to exist. Is that nice? No. But denying that the threat violence keeps this version of society together is denying reality. And trying to replace a system that is willing to use violence to maintain it's existence with dreams just doesn't work.

junofan 4y ago
So if taxes go up, there will be more demand for a currency? And if taxes go down, there will be less demand for a currency? I’m not sure that’s right.
- 99_00 4y ago
  >So if taxes go up, there will be more demand for a currency No. Because an increase or decrease in taxes doesn't cause anyone to stop or start using currency, or convert from one currency to another.