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Sending money to people internationally without the blessing, permission or fees of your government or central bank is the primary utility. It is simply astoun
by StanislavPetrov 3y ago
Sending money to people internationally without the blessing, permission or fees of your government or central bank is the primary utility. It is simply astounding to me that otherwise intelligent people can't understand this simple and incredibly useful function.
If I want to send $10 to my cousin in Brazil or Madagascar, how do I do that exactly without crypto? Sending him $10 in litecoin takes a few minutes to process through the blockchain, and costs just a few cents in processing fees. What is the alternative, especially if he doesn't a bank account or ready access to a bank? Paying high fees to Moneygram or Western Union, waiting an extended period of time and undergoing an onerous KYC process that often ends up in your funds being returned or rejected from many foreign countries?
If you are wealthy, live in the United States, have a bank account, no interest in privacy, and are looking to send and/or receive money from other wealthy people from the United States who also have bank accounts and don't have any interest in privacy, then crypto holds no allure.
- telepathy 3y ago"without the blessing, permission or fees of your government or central bank" = "unlawful" We're looking for lawful use cases that cant' be done with a regular database
- StanislavPetrov 3y agoSorry that's completely wrong. It isn't illegal for me to send $10 in litecoin to my cousin in Brazil or Madagascar without the blessing, permission or fees charged by the government, the banks or fiat currency companies like Moneygram (as much as they would like to make it so). Suggesting that sending $10 in litecoin to my cousin in another country cheaply and easily (which would otherwise be impossible in the traditional banking system) while at the same time arguing that crypto should be illegal because it has no utility is absurd on its face.
- telepathy 3y agoIt's also not unlawful for you to flush it down the toilet. What's your point? We're looking for a use case that can't be done with a regular database. Why are you selecting litecoin as your example, out of curiosity? What's the difference?
- StanislavPetrov 3y ago>We're looking for a use case that can't be done with a regular database. If by, "regular database" you mean the traditional banking system, I've already laid it out for you. You can't send money from a bank to someone without a bank account. The cost to use a legacy payment system like Moneygram is prohibitive - you can't send $10. The regulatory hurdles to send and receive money from a legacy payment system, even if the cost wasn't prohibitive, often prevent you from doing so, even when everything is totally legal and legitimate. >Why are you selecting litecoin as your example, out of curiosity? What's the difference? The transaction costs are very low, and the blockchain transactions take place relatively quickly. Sending $10 to anyone in the world might cost you 10 or 15 cents and take 10-30 minutes. I am far from a crypto wizard, but was an early adopter for exactly the reasons detailed above.
- telepathy 3y agoYou didn't give an example of sending money. You gave an example of database transaction of an exchange traded token. Sending IOUs that need to be changed into money isn't the same thing as sending money. > The regulatory hurdles to send and receive money from a legacy payment system ... => Become a policy maker and change the regulation. You're not allowed to just evade regulations with crypto tech just because it's your opinion that democratic law was improperly legislated. That's crazy talk. Why do you think Moneygram is expensive? Ever thought maybe it's due to legal compliance? You're not allowed to evade that.
- CPLX 3y ago> without the blessing, permission or fees of your government That’s not lawful. There’s no use of crypto that isn’t gambling or the evasion of laws. There’s probably a few unjust money transfer laws out there in the world. So you could make a case that the specific special use case of evading those is legitimate. The rest is just crime.
- StanislavPetrov 3y agoThere's no law against sending $10 in crypto to your cousin in another country. It isn't a crime, and it is a perfect example of the utility of crypto.