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People need to remember what year Bitcoin first became popular and what year it is today. Comparing crypto of today to AI of today is unfair. You need to compar

People need to remember what year Bitcoin first became popular and what year it is today. Comparing crypto of today to AI of today is unfair. You need to compare crypto when it first came out: - “digital cash”, “buy anything with minimal fees” - “banking for the unbanked” - “digital gold”, “not subject to inflation” - “trade cash for crypto with anyone on the street” - “no merchant fees” All of these statements were true when Bitcoin first came out and all of them provided value to some albeit not everyone. Most of these statements are not true today. 6-7 years later and we can barely buy anything with crypto, the fees are most definitely not minimal and the “merchant fees” fade in comparison, the market is fragmented beyond imagination. Given taxation and KYC requirements crypto today is anything but “banking for the unbanked” or “digital cash”, you most definitely can’t trade it with random strangers on the street unless you want to get yourself arrested. Due to its volatility and correlation with the market crypto also does not appear to be a safe heaven today, despite what theory would have us believe. All that to say, there was great hope for crypto when it first came out but over time its utility diminished. I can draw some parallels with the AI of today but will the future turn out the same we can only guess.

raykyri 3y ago
Other criticisms aside, fees are <10 cents for many transactions on Eth rollups right now, and will drop another 10x in the next six months if not more. (Only true since around the last month.) USDC is nice for international money transfers, though still niche. I don’t think anyone cares if you trade crypto on the streets, just don’t get rubber hosed. The space has suffered a lot from adverse selection towards grifters. UST alone captured many of the earnest attempts towards payments and took them down with it.

raykyri 3y ago

Other criticisms aside, fees are <10 cents for many transactions on Eth rollups right now, and will drop another 10x in the next six months if not more. (Only true since around the last month.) USDC is nice for international money transfers, though still niche. I don’t think anyone cares if you trade crypto on the streets, just don’t get rubber hosed. The space has suffered a lot from adverse selection towards grifters. UST alone captured many of the earnest attempts towards payments and took them down with it.