News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Ask HN: Why does cryptocurrency subjects on HN lack curio... by mrweasel on Sunday November 21, 2021 @06:19AM (#29295528)
Given the very limited scale of cryto currency, and limited usability in the real world isn’t it pretty much a failed revolution?

Bitcoin is still the biggest crypto currency, and compared to Euro, dollars and other currencies, it’s practically useless. The network can’t compete on scale, compared to VISA, MasterCard or AMEX. The crypto currencies try to solve problems much of the western simply don’t have.

The tech will live on an small pocket, such as money transfer between banks and large organisations, but it won’t be useful to the public at large.

Re:Ask HN: Why does cryptocurrency subjects on HN lack curio... by pcthrowaway on Sunday November 21, 2021 @06:38AM (#29295618)
Technology takes time to mature and see widespread adoption. Whether you believe this will ever happen with cryptocurrency or not, you can't ignore that it's grown (by users, development, and many other metrics) faster than most other technological revolutions.

The internet took roughly 20-30 years to reach mass adoption. Cryptocurrency is about 10 years in, and while there are many active users, there user experience is still behind that of most payment options, and smart contracts which enable a host of other decentralized financial primitives are really only a few years old.

Re:Ask HN: Why does cryptocurrency subjects on HN lack curio... by spapas82 on Sunday November 21, 2021 @06:59AM (#29295739)
I disagree. Of course you can't just give (or receive) crypto to anybody. However, moving crypto between two crypto-aware parties is simple and fast. Definitely easier than using the "system" (especially if your are not part of it; consider how difficult is to open a bank account).

So I will be more specific and say that it is a revolution for the people that use crypto. I don't know if it will be a revolution for the general population but my belief is that it won't be. The "system" will find ways to crush crypto then it starts to become more popular. Right now it doesn't care that much ...

Re:Ask HN: Why does cryptocurrency subjects on HN lack curio... by kayamon on Sunday November 21, 2021 @02:30PM (#29298956)
> The network can’t compete on scale, compared to VISA, MasterCard or AMEX.

Yes it can. Bitcoin Lightning solves this. They're using it in El Salvador right now.

Re:Ask HN: Why does cryptocurrency subjects on HN lack curio... by Ekaros on Sunday November 21, 2021 @06:26AM (#29295565)
And really banks or large organisations don't need crypto for money transfers. They are already doing it in vey well established systems, with well defined contracts and so on. Blockchain adds nothing, when piece of paper or electronic record saying "hey we owe you this much" or "this loan is debt obligation is now yours"...