Re:Tell HN: We have a responsibility to speak out against bl...
by dns_snek on Saturday January 29, 2022 @07:59AM
(#30125922)
> The risk exposure to exchange rate fluctuations,
This is true to a degree, but intra-day fluctuation are typically not going to be severe enough to pose a significant risk. The "risk" of the value going up is pretty much the same as the value going down on such short time scales, so any fluctuations should realistically even out after some time.
> and risk of loss of funds in transit (due to fraud, hacking, losing a crypto wallet, sending money to the wrong wallet, etc),
The risk of that happening is minimal to none depending on how well you prepare. Loss of funds is not something that typically "happens" to you, it's something you do. And it's usually pretty hard to do that.
If you're sending funds to someone repeatedly, you only need to get their address once. Send a small, let's say $1 transaction to see if you have the correct address.
Hardware wallets eliminate the risk of hacking, but you can avoid it through other means as well.
> the fees associated with cryptocurrency transfers,
Outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum, fees for cryptocurrency transfers are practically zero. Prime examples of this are Monero and Litecoin where transfers might cost $0.01, but you might get away without paying a fee at all.
> and the extremely slow transfer times,
Both Monero and Litecoin have a block time of around 2 minutes and transactions are usually completed within 5 minutes. Deposits to exchanges might take up to 30 minutes due to stricter requirements.
Traditional banking system usually takes at least 1 working day or more.
> all makes cryptocurrency a totally inappropriate product for the demographic that you are suggesting be targeted.
I'm not going to support or refute that, but I did want to point out that all of your claims above are wrong and don't support the argument you're trying to make.
This is true to a degree, but intra-day fluctuation are typically not going to be severe enough to pose a significant risk. The "risk" of the value going up is pretty much the same as the value going down on such short time scales, so any fluctuations should realistically even out after some time.
> and risk of loss of funds in transit (due to fraud, hacking, losing a crypto wallet, sending money to the wrong wallet, etc),
The risk of that happening is minimal to none depending on how well you prepare. Loss of funds is not something that typically "happens" to you, it's something you do. And it's usually pretty hard to do that.
If you're sending funds to someone repeatedly, you only need to get their address once. Send a small, let's say $1 transaction to see if you have the correct address.
Hardware wallets eliminate the risk of hacking, but you can avoid it through other means as well.
> the fees associated with cryptocurrency transfers,
Outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum, fees for cryptocurrency transfers are practically zero. Prime examples of this are Monero and Litecoin where transfers might cost $0.01, but you might get away without paying a fee at all.
> and the extremely slow transfer times,
Both Monero and Litecoin have a block time of around 2 minutes and transactions are usually completed within 5 minutes. Deposits to exchanges might take up to 30 minutes due to stricter requirements.
Traditional banking system usually takes at least 1 working day or more.
> all makes cryptocurrency a totally inappropriate product for the demographic that you are suggesting be targeted.
I'm not going to support or refute that, but I did want to point out that all of your claims above are wrong and don't support the argument you're trying to make.