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Re:Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need? by gamblor956 on Monday October 01, 2018 @02:03PM (#18115159)
There is no situation in which you have a broken government (i.e., refugee camps) where it is possible that crypto-currency will be useful. In refugee camps, even the doctors and aid workers have minimal access to the internet, and certainly not the type of stable connection you would need to transact crypto. Moreover, you would have extreme difficulty finding counterparties for the crypto-fiat exchange that don't charge usurious rates.

In situations where you just have broken governments, like Syria or Somalia, you generally also have broken utilities and private services, and internet is definitely low down on the list of priorities when you're worried about basic survival.

Re:Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need? by joewaltman on Monday October 01, 2018 @02:08PM (#18115202)
While I agree that there are a number of challenges around actually utilizing crypto in places like this, you must also agree that some of crypto's unique characteristics are actually very compelling in these situations. For example, it is very expensive to get supplies or money into these 'camps'. The (relatively) immediate and peer-to-peer nature of cryptocurrency is perfect for this kind of help.
Re:Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need? by davidcbc on Monday October 01, 2018 @02:20PM (#18115339)
In the situation where it is prohibitively expensive to get money or supplies into a place what are you expecting these people to spend their cryptocurrency on?
Re:Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need? by Finnucane on Monday October 01, 2018 @02:23PM (#18115382)
I do not have to agree that cryptotokens have any compelling characteristics.
Re:Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need? by X6S1x6Okd1st on Monday October 01, 2018 @05:36PM (#18117030)
I can lose citizenship, suffer from identity theft and lose all of my physical possessions and still recover what funds I have in cryptotokens as long as I can acquire an internet connected computer.
Re:Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need? by Finnucane on Thursday October 04, 2018 @10:55AM (#18140441)
Having you tokens stolen is probably more likely than those other things.
Re:Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need? by gamblor956 on Monday October 01, 2018 @03:02PM (#18115741)
I don't have to agree with any of your response. Crypto's unique characteristics make it even more problematic in the situations you've described, not less. Crypto is by far the worst possible unit of exchange since it actually places additional requirements on people in already unstable conditions, namely, the requirement of stable access to the internet and electricity.