4 ms·

Online dark net markets would not be possible without cryptos. They are a pretty big win for those who believe in personal liberty.

KyeRussell 4y ago
Fortunately I don’t think anyone is concerned with what libertarians consider a “big win”.
- mmiliauskas 4y ago
  Except for libertarians? Personally, as a libertarian this is all I need -- a win for myself.
  - bregma 4y ago
    Not all libertarians. Any libertarian is of course free to decide for themself if it's a win or not. Some may, and some may not.
justsomehnguy 4y ago
Bullshit, they existed both before the crypto and before the Internet itself. It's just a bit more convenient, but otherwise it's just the same as it was: give money to one man, take money/goods from other man and how exactly they settle their accounts is none of your business.
Melingo 4y ago
In sense of buying drugs? Yeah sure still not society relevant. And look what happens in Germany, it's much better to push for legalization. People need to stand up for rights
edflsafoiewq 4y ago
Yes, crypto's main use is crime. Its supporters have various arguments for why crime is actually good.
- rvz 4y ago
  > Yes, crypto's main use is crime. It is quite a very poor use with such "crime" happening all on a public and transparent blockchain, making it very easy to trace all of that (even if they use a tumbler / mixer) with the funds certainly seized and frozen as soon as it hits the exchange. In fact criminals and scammers still use banks and Zelle to facilitate their criminal enterprise - [0] [1] in the trillions of dollars. [0] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/fincen-files-financial-scandal-criminal-networks https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/fincen-fil... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/business/payments-fraud-zelle-banks.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/business/payments-fraud-z...
  - tzs 4y ago
    So why do so many ransomware gangs want payment in Bitcoin?
    - rvz 4y ago
      Perhaps they want to get themselves traced on a public ledger and to join the long list of gangs caught and arrested by the authorities each week? Once again, Bitcoin is worse for scammers, criminals and ransomware than using Zelle and the banks for fraud. You should be asking why the banks continue to move trillions of dollars of illicit funds for criminals for years without them doing anything. Same with Zelle.
  - saurik 4y ago
    And Square. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-dorsey-block-loses-20-164948270.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-dorsey-block-loses-20-16...
- psychphysic 4y ago
  I suppose you'd have told Ms Parks to shut up and get off the bus if avoiding crime is all that's good for society?
  - deleted 4y ago
tzs 4y ago
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it" --Jean de La Fontaine. With sufficient tracking of non-cryptocurrencies and physical goods governments could largely kill dark net markets by making it too hard to buy anything physical with your cryptocurrency. Imagine KYC but applied to every transaction instead of just large ones. Making dark markets too easy isn't a win for personal liberty. Its a step on the road to a dystopia with little personal liberty or privacy because every time something seriously bad happens a few due to dark markets that would not have been possible in the legal markets the general public will demand something be done about it, which will result in government being granted more power.
- M95D 4y ago
  No need for dark markets. We will get there anyway. Government doesn't need people to demand it.

KyeRussell 4y ago

Fortunately I don’t think anyone is concerned with what libertarians consider a “big win”.

mmiliauskas 4y ago
Except for libertarians? Personally, as a libertarian this is all I need -- a win for myself.
- bregma 4y ago
  Not all libertarians. Any libertarian is of course free to decide for themself if it's a win or not. Some may, and some may not.

justsomehnguy 4y ago

Bullshit, they existed both before the crypto and before the Internet itself. It's just a bit more convenient, but otherwise it's just the same as it was: give money to one man, take money/goods from other man and how exactly they settle their accounts is none of your business.

Melingo 4y ago

In sense of buying drugs? Yeah sure still not society relevant. And look what happens in Germany, it's much better to push for legalization. People need to stand up for rights

edflsafoiewq 4y ago

Yes, crypto's main use is crime. Its supporters have various arguments for why crime is actually good.

rvz 4y ago
> Yes, crypto's main use is crime. It is quite a very poor use with such "crime" happening all on a public and transparent blockchain, making it very easy to trace all of that (even if they use a tumbler / mixer) with the funds certainly seized and frozen as soon as it hits the exchange. In fact criminals and scammers still use banks and Zelle to facilitate their criminal enterprise - [0] [1] in the trillions of dollars. [0] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/fincen-files-financial-scandal-criminal-networks https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/fincen-fil... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/business/payments-fraud-zelle-banks.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/business/payments-fraud-z...
- tzs 4y ago
  So why do so many ransomware gangs want payment in Bitcoin?
  - rvz 4y ago
    Perhaps they want to get themselves traced on a public ledger and to join the long list of gangs caught and arrested by the authorities each week? Once again, Bitcoin is worse for scammers, criminals and ransomware than using Zelle and the banks for fraud. You should be asking why the banks continue to move trillions of dollars of illicit funds for criminals for years without them doing anything. Same with Zelle.
- saurik 4y ago
  And Square. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-dorsey-block-loses-20-164948270.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-dorsey-block-loses-20-16...
psychphysic 4y ago
I suppose you'd have told Ms Parks to shut up and get off the bus if avoiding crime is all that's good for society?
- deleted 4y ago

tzs 4y ago

"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it" --Jean de La Fontaine. With sufficient tracking of non-cryptocurrencies and physical goods governments could largely kill dark net markets by making it too hard to buy anything physical with your cryptocurrency. Imagine KYC but applied to every transaction instead of just large ones. Making dark markets too easy isn't a win for personal liberty. Its a step on the road to a dystopia with little personal liberty or privacy because every time something seriously bad happens a few due to dark markets that would not have been possible in the legal markets the general public will demand something be done about it, which will result in government being granted more power.

M95D 4y ago
No need for dark markets. We will get there anyway. Government doesn't need people to demand it.