Re:Crypto is an unproductive bubble
by Animats on Friday March 18, 2022 @10:56PM
(#30730511)
Cryptocurrencies have a valid but very specific use-case: being able to transact in a hostile environment.
Yes. In the early days, people were thinking retail sales of illegal drugs. That turned out to be a petty cash application. What really powered Bitcoin usage was getting money out of China despite exchange controls. There have been disclosures in recent years which established that the money laundering sector was much larger than previously thought.[1][2][3] Just a fraction of that moving through the cryptocurrency system may account for most of the growth in Bitcoin.
Yes. In the early days, people were thinking retail sales of illegal drugs. That turned out to be a petty cash application. What really powered Bitcoin usage was getting money out of China despite exchange controls. There have been disclosures in recent years which established that the money laundering sector was much larger than previously thought.[1][2][3] Just a fraction of that moving through the cryptocurrency system may account for most of the growth in Bitcoin.
[1] https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/
[2] https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/
[3] https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers