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> The goal is to build a permissionless and censorship-resistent financial network. How is this even close to true. There are multiple exchanges right now that

> The goal is to build a permissionless and censorship-resistent financial network. How is this even close to true. There are multiple exchanges right now that have locked up people’s money and don’t allow them to access it. Cryptocurrency is banned in China and is basically inactive there. How did it evade censorship? To the extent it’s “censorship proof” in some areas right now is because the censoring entities simply don’t give a shit about it. Governments that have tried to stop it have found it beyond easy to do so. There are no stories of governments that have tried to control crypto and have failed to do so. For the obvious reason that crypto is much harder for someone living under an authoritarian regime to get into than just holding US dollars. I can physically buy US dollars from tourists visiting my country. How do I get Bitcoin? And how do I maintain that Bitcoin. Never mind actually using it…I can give someone else USD without them having to have done any work…but to receive crypto for me, that individual needs to have gone through the same illegal process to setup a crypto account that I have. USD requires only 1 side to have gone through a much easier process to acquire it. Whereas crypto requires both sides to go through it. And it also requires protecting a digital key and internet access to certain sites while your internet is being monitored. I can stick USD under my mattress and carry it in my pocket to someone else’s apartment and then they can stick it under their mattress without even the most repressive govt noticing. The same cannot be said for crypto.

miracle2k 4y ago
None of your points are technical critiques. Sufficiently restrictive governments have had little trouble enforcing bans against end to end encryption or enforcing internet restrictions for the vast majority of the population either. Computer code will never protect you from a bullet to the head. The lesson here is that technological solutions are not a replacement for politics and real-world power struggles. They can however be a tool. > How is this even close to true. There are multiple exchanges right now that have locked up people’s money and don’t allow them to access it. There is nothing wrong with the existence of custodied services, but - give your money to someone else and you are relying on them (and the legal system) to get it back. So what? > Cryptocurrency is banned in China and is basically inactive there. How did it evade censorship? > To the extent it’s “censorship proof” in some areas right now is because the censoring entities simply don’t give a shit about it. It is guaranteed that there are Chinese citizens holding and transacting in crypto everyday. To confiscate these assets or to block these transactions poses certain challenges to authorities. This is what the decidedly non-garbage tech ensures. It is also challenging to find individuals who have USD under their mattress, which is why cash is extremely useful and civil libertarians should fight for its survival. > USD requires only 1 side to have gone through a much easier process to acquire it. Whereas crypto requires both sides to go through it. Note that this is not correct. Wallet-creation is not a physical action; a wallet is merely a sufficiently random number you pick for yourself, in your head if necessary.

miracle2k 4y ago

None of your points are technical critiques. Sufficiently restrictive governments have had little trouble enforcing bans against end to end encryption or enforcing internet restrictions for the vast majority of the population either. Computer code will never protect you from a bullet to the head. The lesson here is that technological solutions are not a replacement for politics and real-world power struggles. They can however be a tool. > How is this even close to true. There are multiple exchanges right now that have locked up people’s money and don’t allow them to access it. There is nothing wrong with the existence of custodied services, but - give your money to someone else and you are relying on them (and the legal system) to get it back. So what? > Cryptocurrency is banned in China and is basically inactive there. How did it evade censorship? > To the extent it’s “censorship proof” in some areas right now is because the censoring entities simply don’t give a shit about it. It is guaranteed that there are Chinese citizens holding and transacting in crypto everyday. To confiscate these assets or to block these transactions poses certain challenges to authorities. This is what the decidedly non-garbage tech ensures. It is also challenging to find individuals who have USD under their mattress, which is why cash is extremely useful and civil libertarians should fight for its survival. > USD requires only 1 side to have gone through a much easier process to acquire it. Whereas crypto requires both sides to go through it. Note that this is not correct. Wallet-creation is not a physical action; a wallet is merely a sufficiently random number you pick for yourself, in your head if necessary.