That is true, but it is not the whole story. Crypto’s are the only digital currency that provides some level of anonymity. This can be a blessing or a curse. They are comparable to cash money in that regard. Anonymity makes it harder for law enforcement to track payments.
The harm is enormous compared to any benefits. Anonymity is available with the dollar. Crypto is just dark money without even trying. The environment costs are far greater than even the largest data centers.
Let’s agree to disagree, at least partially. 😜 I don’t think crypto is bad per se and most certainly blockchain isn’t bad per se. Just like any technology it can be put to good use or destruction. Unfortunately more often than not we choose the latter.
What I detest about cryptocurrency is primarily the mining approach due to the exponential increase of energy requirements. I also agree, that organised crime benefits from crypto’s anonymity. But on the other hand I do see the privacy benefit for honest purposes!
What are the honest purposes the masses would need that sort of privacy protection for while they have no privacy in real life with their own data? I believe it’s a false sense of privacy that is ultimately no where near as important as real data privacy. Our medical records for example.
The thing that concerns me is the complete lack of regulation. Like why would you voluntarily take accepted currency and put it in a system that’s decentralized and unregulated? That only has value because bros on the internet decided it did? What am I missing?
Traditional money requires you to trust a centralized governmental office or bank. Cryptos are more democratic in that way. You do NOT need to trust a certain ‚tech bro‘. The guarantees you need are supplied by the underlying blockchain technology itself.
It’s not a single “government office” any more than a single tech bro. It’s simply that the world has agreed this piece of paper has value. Thats capitalism. I don’t know what this is. I understand what the block chain is, but you’re buying an imaginary coin with a picture of a frog on it.
Not quite. Take the US Dollar. The FED decides unilateraly how many of them are in circulation (similar to any other national currency). They control the value of the Dollar that way directly. This is not possible with a truly decentralized currency, where potentially ANYONE can issue new ,coins‘.
That is one of the reasons why Donald Trump applies that much pressure on the FED and why it is crucial that rhey resist this pressure and remain independent. A crypto currency cannot be taken ransom like that by any individual.
That‘s why I also disagre with the statement that cryptos were perferred by dictators. It is true for mobsters. But dictators usually have a way of controlling their own national currency. And by this they control their people. They could not do that with cryptos.
Using peer-to-peer technology instead of a cebtralized authority is a clear benefit in my view. Still, I certainly don’t want to promote crypto and don’t use it myseöf, as long as there‘s no better aproach to their mining.
What you paid for, to whom and when IS data, that can easily be exploited in violation of your privacy. That‘s why many people rarely use card payments or other digital transfers and stick to cash. Crypto could be a viable alternative. This is even more important if privacy is threatend elswhere.