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You're not taking crazy pills. It's become abundantly clear that the vision of everybody being their own bank will never work. People don't want to be their ow
by knorker 4y ago
You're not taking crazy pills. It's become abundantly clear that the vision of everybody being their own bank will never work.
People don't want to be their own bank, just like they don't want to be their own bakery, or their own farmer.
Sure, some people do bake their own bread, but they do it either because they have to, or because they enjoy it.
So the people who control their own keys need to have a reason to do so. Because it takes more effort than not managing your own bank.
What exactly are the reasons to run your own bank? What problems in your life are solved by it?
I can think of a two:
* You want to hold more cash than FDIC guarantees.
* You think the government will seize money out of savings accounts, as happened in Cyprus.
These have to be weighed against the facts that while not literally in your mattress, the money becomes pretty easy to steal, for anyone willing to point a gun at you. And being your own bank comes with obligations, too, so the government will come after you if they want to drain your bank. And the justice system can put you in a box if you don't comply.
Basically: If you already have a bank, why would you not just use it? And if they refuse to do your thing (like order a hit), then buy tokens and pay a hitman in tokens.
If there were FDIC for tokens at your real bank, redeemable in same number of tokens, then any general public that wanted to use cryptocurrency would likely just use that. Because outside of fringe LARPing nobody wants to run their own bank.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> You want to hold more cash than FDIC guarantees This is a solved problem up to millions of dollars [1]. Past that, you buy Treasuries. The real third case is you’re doing something illegal. [1] https://accountopening.fidelity.com/ftgw/aong/aongapp/fdicBankList https://accountopening.fidelity.com/ftgw/aong/aongapp/fdicBa...
- mikeyouse 4y agoYeah - there's a whole industry of this.. I worked with a large nonprofit that had something like $50M FDIC insured through CDARs. https://www.intrafinetworkdeposits.com/ https://www.intrafinetworkdeposits.com/ I suspect the government / Fed will have something to say about these in the future since it's a bit contra the purpose/intent of FDIC insurance but for the moment, you can abstract away all of the complications.
- eternalban 4y ago> Basically: If you already have a bank, why would you not just use it? Basic corollary: if you already use a bank, why not just use money? > If there were FDIC for tokens at your real bank, redeemable in same number of tokens, then any general public that wanted to use cryptocurrency would likely just use that. Because outside of fringe LARPing nobody wants to run their own bank. So the only remaining question is why would normies who say (according to you) amen to all above would need crypto besides a ponzi-speculative joy ride? On one hand we have funny money backed by a world power and all its resources, and protected by ICBMs and an impressive navy and bases around the world and a financial infrastructure around USD & convertibles. On the other hand we have funny tokens issued by "genius" -mushrooms- who are elevated into the spotlight by the likes of Forbes magazine and the rest of the media circus, protected by nothing [though the genius scammers themselves are apparently protected ..]
- knorker 4y ago> So the only remaining question is why would normies who say (according to you) amen to all above would need crypto Exactly. They don't. Not as a currency. It's gambling. And "normies" don't want to run a bank just to gamble. > money backed by a world power and all its resources, and protected by ICBMs And e.g. in the US the USD is not just protected from outside threat (ultimately) by ICBMs, but also internally by the fact that tax is due in USD. There are cryptocurrency advocates who say that the USD is backed by nothing. Which is a very odd thing to say because as long as the US has tax laws there will be demand for the USD (under penalty of prison), to pay your taxes. Demand for a thing creates value for that thing. Anyone who thinks that backing is not real is likely to feel the physical effects of its reality.