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Why couldn't you do that directly with USD?

• littlestymaar 3y ago
  because blockchain most find some use-case to justify its costs.
• rglullis 3y ago
  How do you transfer $0.001 USD to someone?
  • kibwen 3y ago
    It's all just numbers in a database, you can deal in as small a fraction of a cent as you'd like.
    • rglullis 3y ago
      That assumes that all parties involved have an account on the same bank.
  • hiq 3y ago
    How do you do it with a token? The micropayment problem is not new, and there's no indication that the Ethereum-based tokens have solved them, especially not with transaction fees that high. If you're talking about a non-decentralized solution, then as the sibling comment argued it boils down to an entry in a database and that's trivial anyway.
    • rglullis 3y ago
      > How do you do it with a token? Use a testnet. We are talking about an application with literal zero monetary value. No one will attack a test net to be able to mint themselves a token meant to be used solely for priority-rating in a process queue.
      • hiq 3y ago
        > an application with literal zero monetary value > $0.001 USD We can't have it both ways: either paying a token is a disincentive to spam job postings, which means the token actually has monetary value that's higher than zero; or it's not, then it's useless.
        • rglullis 3y ago
          I mentioning transferring small dollar amounts just to show that it is not feasible to do it with regular money transfers. > (either) the token actually has monetary value that's higher than zero; or it's not, then it's useless. Are you familiar with Germany's Pfand system? You go to a beer garden, get your pint which costs (say) 5€. The bartender asks you for 7€, meaning a 2€ "pfand". You get your beer and a physical, plastic token. When you are done with your beer, you go back to the bar and if you return your glass with the token, you get your 2€ back. The key thing is that you need to bring both. Lost the token? No cash back for you, might as well take the glass home. Lost/broke the glass? The token is worthless. The point here is that the token, by itself, has no value. It's sole purpose is to be a unit of accounting.
          • hiq 3y ago
            In your example, the 2€ deposit works as an incentive to bring back the glass. Without this incentive, the token on its own is useless. The token merely serves to prevent some side-effect of the deposit (e.g. people could try to return glasses from other patrons or other bars). Similarly, having job tokens independent of any kind of deposit or incentive will not prevent anyone from spamming applications.
            • rglullis 3y ago
              > Similarly, having job tokens independent of any kind of deposit or incentive will not prevent anyone from spamming applications. People will still have to find a way to get the tokens. They are not going to be creating them out of thin air.