| I'm predisposed toward decentralization and personal control, but I have to admit centralization has benefits. It depends on the situation / market. A concrete example is AirBNB vs. craigslist for apartment bookings. I'm going on a trip to the east coast for a few months (from SF). Now craigslist has existed for a long time, and in theory I could book an apartment I found on craigslist for a month. Indeed, I looked on craigslist. But I've been advised not to do that, for reasons of trust. But I'm comfortable doing it with AirBNB, since I've used them before and had more or less good experiences. They do provide some service in case things go south (last minute cancellations, etc.) (And the AirBNB I booked is a legal one where the person owns the place, since I don't want to risk being kicked out during my trip.) Craigslist is more decentralized than AirBNB -- anybody can post a listing and anyone can contact you and try to book your apartment. But the decentralization doesn't mean it's a better system. I think it boils down to the details of a particular market, and decentralized vs. centralized is not always a helpful way to think about it. With regard to currency, I imagine BitCoin is better than the currencies of some governments. I don't think it's better than US currency, by a long shot. US currency has flaws, but I don't see that BitCoin actually addresses them. It's morphed into something else. Maybe a different system could address those problems. |
> With regard to currency, I imagine BitCoin is better than the currencies of some governments. I don't think it's better than US currency, by a long shot. US currency has flaws, but I don't see that BitCoin actually addresses them
Out of curiosity why do you think Bitcoin won't replace USD? What flaws should a new system address?