So what benefit is it? Everyone has only traded one form of vendor lock in to another (that is deserving of vastly less trust, as evidended by the Wild West of scams, rug pulls and outright frauds)
Money works because I can hand $10 to a 5 or a 95 year old and they know what to do with it. Very few people do anything other than speculate in crypto, and even fewer hold it in their own wallets as opposed to on exchanges. If the friction of getting started in the future of money requires IT support, then it isn’t going to work
It doesn't need to be universal. The need for personal computers wasn't universal when Steve Jobs was running around Silicon Valley selling the Apple I in the 70s. They didn't even understand email in the 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlJku_CSyNg.
Look at us now.
> The vast majority of the general population is nowhere near this level of technical proficiency.
Right. Just like all technology, that's our responsibility as "the nerds." We take something that's complex and distill it down into something that's easily digested by people with limited or no technical aptitude.
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I find it deeply alarming that the supposed technical elite that wander this site are so averse to something that can liberate and help so many people, worldwide. Even if they have the capacity to understand it, it's clear that many here haven't done their homework and are relying on second or third-hand knowledge (or at best, outdated information) to form their opinions.
Despite their hubris and narcissism, they're no better than "the general population" on understanding this.
> as governments will introduce digital currencies
Governments generally don't create money, central banks do. Famously, some central banks are actually private entities, not government (public ones)
> own failing currencies
What exactly currency is failing, and which are the indicators ? USD and EUR are roaring successes in facilitating value exchanges on a global scale.
> simultaneously robbing citizens of their savings
If that's the intention, banks can do that right now by printing money. Oh wait, they do.
> will give out free money (it costs them nothing to do so)
Yes, printing money has a small marginal cost.
> not tell them that their money can expire
Why somebody would expire money when they try to prop the economy on which they base their own support ?
> have its purchases limited to "approved" vendors
Again, why anybody would shoot themselves in the foot by killing the economy that keeps them alive ?
> it cannot be manipulated or stolen by the state
I'm sorry all your post reads some like crypto-prepper thing. If you feel that the state is out to steal you, you'd better start arming too, because if the state is out to get you, they'll not do it via obscure economic means, they will send the state-sponsored-thugs to violence it out - see Russia.
> Something that's never existed in the history of humanity.
Gold?
The USD's value has declined 90+% over the last 100 years. As Charlie Munger suggests, "My [the] working thesis is that the currency goes to zero."
> If that's the intention, banks can do that right now by printing money. Oh wait, they do.
Correct. That's a bad thing. They can't do that on a Bitcoin standard.
> Why somebody would expire money when they try to prop the economy on which they base their own support ?
Because it forces participation in the economy. If it's going to expire, you're forced to spend it, thus boosting the economy. Also, you're guaranteed to keep working because you can't save your money and exit the system so you can repeat this cycle ad nausea.
> Again, why anybody would shoot themselves in the foot by killing the economy that keeps them alive ?
Because the goal is to limit the number of people "kept alive." As for an individual case: fear of the sword. https://twitter.com/PezntJournalist/status/15095444990133739...
> I'm sorry all your post reads some like crypto-prepper thing. If you feel that the state is out to steal you, you'd better start arming too
The floor of my bedroom closet is a small arsenal and yes, I've mentally prepared to die in a shoot out (if it comes to that) with the powers that be. Being prepared does not mean being ignorant/stupid/foolish. I lose nothing by thinking ahead while those who foolishly buy into what they're told—despite persistent evidence to the contrary—potentially lose everything.
> Gold?
That can be confiscated.
And that's a good thing. As currency goes to 0, we'll have an economy of abundance, a Star Trek utopia where you can get anything for free (because currency is 0) from a friendly replicator.
> That's a bad thing.
That's a good thing - as the economy grows the supply of money that represents the value of the economy needs to grow. You can buy together things that would've been utopia 100 years ago (iPhones - the knowledge of the world in your pocket; travel anywhere in the world in under a day) for next to nothing (in the developed world). The value of these new things needs to be represented.
> you're guaranteed to keep working
What makes you think it's fair for you to stop working when other people are working their asses off to feed you, give you shelter, etc ? We all need to contribute to the society, unless you have a leach mentality.
> the goal is to limit the number of people "kept alive." ... my bedroom closet is a small arsenal
I'm not going to discuss conspiracy theory-driven paranoia, except to mention that if the state is "out to get you", unless you have tons of like minded friends, and you all have your own airforce, "they" WILL get you, because you can't fight an F-16 bombing you.
Oh, and bitcoin can be seized, exactly as gold https://www.dlapiper.com/en/us/insights/publications/2022/02....
You don't understand economics.
> as the economy grows the supply of money that represents the value of the economy needs to grow
You really don't understand economics.
> What makes you think it's fair for you to stop working when other people are working their asses off to feed you, give you shelter, etc ?
Where did I say that? If I save money—the result of my labor—and then live off of that, it's not a crime (this is literally the basis for the concept of retirement) or a threat to anyone (they get compensated for their current labor with the proceeds of my past labor). Assuming that it is a threat in some esoteric way, to be honest, is a bit disturbing.
> I'm not going to discuss conspiracy theory-driven paranoia
It's not paranoia, it's awareness. Paranoia implies I think it's going to happen, while awareness implies that I think it could. I don't think the government is actively out to get me—I'm relatively harmless—but I can certainly foresee people like me being sought out if the circumstances necessitate it (in the eyes of the authority).
> Oh, and bitcoin can be seized, exactly as gold
The headline of what you shared proves me right, not wrong: "Aided by cryptocurrency exchanges."
Then why isn't BTC and other cryptocurrencies skyrocketing right now and seeing widespread adoption by Russian oligarchs looking to move around their money?
After all, if you're on the losing end of it sanctions are "tyrannical money".
There's also an argument to be made that it is precisely the tyranny behind fiat currency to ultimately gives it its value. The United States has a vast array of coercive means (from locking you in prison for forgery to trade weapons that can destroy your economy) to ensure that the USD has value.
There is never a technical solution to realpolitik. We'll increasingly see this in the coming months with crypto as powerful people will get their piece of the pie from the crypto boom, while most average players will be left with nothing.
Because people are and have always been foolish and ego/pride driven.
> The United States has a vast array of coercive means (from locking you in prison for forgery to trade weapons that can destroy your economy) to ensure that the USD has value.
Do you view that as a positive? I sure don't. That's a really depressing reality when you have something like Bitcoin which doesn't necessitate any of that.
> We'll increasingly see this in the coming months with crypto as powerful people will get their piece of the pie from the crypto boom, while most average players will be left with nothing.
"Crypto" isn't Bitcoin. The conflation of the two is, in part, why the market fluctuates as violently as it does.
The USA has an elected legislature, independent courts, multiple levels of appeals in the judicial system, a strong system of civil rights, the right to trial for anyone accused of a crime, the right to an attorney, an independent press, and an active civil society made up of tens of thousands of organizations; all of which shapes the political environment which in turn shapes monetary policy. In what sense is the USD tyrannical?
Edit: this is a more long-form articulation of what I'm getting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtX6AKEO8ok
How's that different from the paper notes in a Monopoly game box? The Fed can't steal it or debase its value either. I still need a large group of people that also hold monopoly money and are willing to transact goods and services for it, with the understanding that the monopoly notes have zero fiat cash value.
This is literally what money printing does.
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If you view it as Monopoly money, then don't use it. I don't know what to tell you; Bitcoin's transaction volume clearly shows that people use it. I've been paid with it and I've paid others with it.
> the monopoly notes have zero fiat cash value
Bitcoin is currently trading at $23,678. That's quite a bit of fiat cash value. Like I've said elsewhere in this thread, if that number goes down, I'll just acquire more of it because the properties I care about remain intact irrespective of USD price. Your opinion of what I do or do not view as money is, frankly, irrelevant.
The implementation works fine, the people are flawed (and this will always be true).
That it's a safeguard (not hedge) against tyrannical money.
This will play out over the next few years as governments will introduce digital currencies (CBDCs) to replace their own failing currencies (simultaneously robbing citizens of their savings). The bait-and-switch of this is that they will give out free money (it costs them nothing to do so) to entice people but not tell them that their money can expire, have its purchases limited to "approved" vendors, and be taken from them instantly without recourse.
Bitcoin is a safeguard against this if you hold it in your custody. This is its ultimate value: it cannot be manipulated or stolen by the state. Something that's never existed in the history of humanity.
There's a reason the genesis block contained this: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/File:Jonny1000thetimes.png