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>Courts, law enforcement and contract law. That's the wrong answer. The existence of tokens predates the existence of government. It's the next step after bart
by fluoridation 11mo ago
>Courts, law enforcement and contract law.
That's the wrong answer. The existence of tokens predates the existence of government. It's the next step after barter. The correct answer is reputation. A vendor who cheats his customers builds up a bad reputation, and the only way he can keep doing it is by changing customer bases, for example by moving to a different town. Think of the traveling snake oil salesman who moves on once people realize his remedies don't work.
- kasey_junk 11mo agoThe courts etc are there so we don’t have to create a posse and ride out to find the snake oil salesman. You _can_ have commerce without them but it’s much higher friction. So if a crypto wants me to abandon the existing systems it needs to show it creates less friction.
- aaomidi 11mo agoCrypto’s use case isn’t for the layman. It’s for countries that aren’t aligned with America to have a separate currency system. Doubly useful for bypassing sanctions.
- otterley 11mo agoIt's also a useful mechanism by which criminals can store their wealth so that it can't easily be seized by law enforcement.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- fluoridation 11mo agoThere's no need for a mob, government-backed or not. A vendor who scams his customer base is harvesting its good will, and eventually it will run out and he'll no longer able to do business.