6 ms·

UN trade body calls for halting cryptocurrency rise in developing countries

19 points by matsemann 4y ago

carlosdp 4y ago
Yea, it's better that they get payment tech from WeChat (China) instead, great call
ETH_start 4y ago
>>“In this way, cryptocurrencies may also curb the effectiveness of capital controls, a key instrument for developing countries to preserve their policy space and macroeconomic stability,” the agency added. UNCTAD is now endorsing capital controls, which for decades were criticized by the West as obstacles to globalization and development. The retreat of central economic planning policies, like capital controls, is largely credited with the largest reduction in poverty in human history: http://economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-billion-people-have-been-taken-out-extreme-poverty-20-years-world-should-aim http://economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-billion-... https://theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-politically-incorrect-guide-to-ending-poverty/308134/ https://theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-politic... https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2016/0207/Progress-in-the-global-war-on-poverty https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2016/0207/Progress-in-the-gl...
ChuckNorris89 4y ago
Should be halted everywhere.
- spaceman_2020 4y ago
  - sent from my iphone
  - e-clinton 4y ago
    Subtle, yet effective. Love it
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    Joke's on you. I don't have an iPhone or any Apple device. Your cheap shot joke is bad and you should feel bad.
    - biglearner1day 4y ago
      I believe you completely missed the joke.
      - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
        Would you care to explain it then?
      - jddil 4y ago
        What joke?
nisegami 4y ago
What a tragedy it would be if developing countries freed themselves from the grasps IMF, WEF, etc.
- mateo1 4y ago
  It is naive to think the rise of cryptocurrencies will help anyone but large companies specialised at scamming retail investors, and of course criminal organisations. As bad as the IMF policies might be, this isn't the solution.
  - aluminaient 4y ago
    What do you recommend? This seems like the singular usecase of cryptocurrency.
    - toomuchtodo 4y ago
      Open source central bank technologies with client side compliments. Maybe provide some gratis consulting services to get emerging economies running on their own financial infra. It’s just pushing messages across busses and adjusting figures in ledgers and databases.
  - ETH_start 4y ago
    >>It is naive to think the rise of cryptocurrencies will help anyone but large companies specialised at scamming retail investors There is nothing inherently scammy in using a distributed blockchain to record balances, and cryptography to authenticate updates to the balances. While opening the door to financial contracts to every one in the world with a computing device may make scam offerings more common, it's overly simplistic and lazy to resort to a caricature of cryptocurrency solely enabling scams. The only fundamental difference inherent to the respective designs of blockchains and traditional banking, is censorship resistance through genuine self-custody. The former, through its reliance on public key cryptography and decentralized consensus, is designed to provide this quality, and the latter is not. So if you believe cryptocurrencies are inherently problematic, then you have a fundamental belief that human liberty has no inherent benefits.
hn8305823 4y ago
From the headline I was wondering if the IMF was behind this article and sure enough: > “For some of these reasons, the International Monetary Fund has expressed the view that cryptocurrencies pose risks as legal tender,” the agency said. The IMF naturally doesn't like any threat to their mission: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-trap_diplomacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-trap_diplomacy
LatteLazy 4y ago
Yes, we should stop people using crypto in countries with unstable currencies because crypto is unstable...
Proven 4y ago
sergefaguet 4y ago
Ahh, so nice that we developed cryptocurrencies with the explicit goal of making it impossible for UN trade bodies and other centralized actors to halt their rise :) But good luck guys, you will need it!
aaron695 4y ago
frank_bb 4y ago

19 points by matsemann 4y ago

Yea, it's better that they get payment tech from WeChat (China) instead, great call

>>“In this way, cryptocurrencies may also curb the effectiveness of capital controls, a key instrument for developing countries to preserve their policy space and macroeconomic stability,” the agency added. UNCTAD is now endorsing capital controls, which for decades were criticized by the West as obstacles to globalization and development. The retreat of central economic planning policies, like capital controls, is largely credited with the largest reduction in poverty in human history: http://economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-billion-people-have-been-taken-out-extreme-poverty-20-years-world-should-aim http://economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-billion-... https://theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-politically-incorrect-guide-to-ending-poverty/308134/ https://theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-politic... https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2016/0207/Progress-in-the-global-war-on-poverty https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2016/0207/Progress-in-the-gl...

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

Should be halted everywhere.

spaceman_2020 4y ago
- sent from my iphone
- e-clinton 4y ago
  Subtle, yet effective. Love it
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  Joke's on you. I don't have an iPhone or any Apple device. Your cheap shot joke is bad and you should feel bad.
  - biglearner1day 4y ago
    I believe you completely missed the joke.
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      Would you care to explain it then?
    - jddil 4y ago
      What joke?

nisegami 4y ago

What a tragedy it would be if developing countries freed themselves from the grasps IMF, WEF, etc.

mateo1 4y ago
It is naive to think the rise of cryptocurrencies will help anyone but large companies specialised at scamming retail investors, and of course criminal organisations. As bad as the IMF policies might be, this isn't the solution.
- aluminaient 4y ago
  What do you recommend? This seems like the singular usecase of cryptocurrency.
  - toomuchtodo 4y ago
    Open source central bank technologies with client side compliments. Maybe provide some gratis consulting services to get emerging economies running on their own financial infra. It’s just pushing messages across busses and adjusting figures in ledgers and databases.
- ETH_start 4y ago
  >>It is naive to think the rise of cryptocurrencies will help anyone but large companies specialised at scamming retail investors There is nothing inherently scammy in using a distributed blockchain to record balances, and cryptography to authenticate updates to the balances. While opening the door to financial contracts to every one in the world with a computing device may make scam offerings more common, it's overly simplistic and lazy to resort to a caricature of cryptocurrency solely enabling scams. The only fundamental difference inherent to the respective designs of blockchains and traditional banking, is censorship resistance through genuine self-custody. The former, through its reliance on public key cryptography and decentralized consensus, is designed to provide this quality, and the latter is not. So if you believe cryptocurrencies are inherently problematic, then you have a fundamental belief that human liberty has no inherent benefits.

hn8305823 4y ago

From the headline I was wondering if the IMF was behind this article and sure enough: > “For some of these reasons, the International Monetary Fund has expressed the view that cryptocurrencies pose risks as legal tender,” the agency said. The IMF naturally doesn't like any threat to their mission: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-trap_diplomacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-trap_diplomacy

LatteLazy 4y ago

Yes, we should stop people using crypto in countries with unstable currencies because crypto is unstable...

Proven 4y ago

sergefaguet 4y ago

Ahh, so nice that we developed cryptocurrencies with the explicit goal of making it impossible for UN trade bodies and other centralized actors to halt their rise :) But good luck guys, you will need it!

aaron695 4y ago

frank_bb 4y ago