[umanwizard]

Cryptocurrencies are not a replacement for banks; they are a replacement for gold.

If cryptocurrencies ever become mainstream, banking services will be built on top of them, just as they were originally built on top of gold.

The only thing I can think of that cryptos let you do cheaper than banks is rapid, relatively frictionless funds transfer, so I’ll admit their utility there. But other than that, what banking services do cryptos give you?

[Semaphor]

Loans, money transfer, storing your money are all things that can be replaced. Seems like a decent chunk.

[jayd16]

Loans no, not at all. Money transfer for coin is extremely inefficient. Volatility makes crypto a terrible place to keep money.

Besides, you're paying for the legal and institutional protection anyway. If crypto made money transfer more efficient, they'd use it and still have the value add of a large institution backing transactions.

[Semaphor]

I thought we were talking about the hypothetical situation where crypto becomes amazing and not at the current state? Of course, crypto can't replace banks as it is now…

[omarchowdhury]

> Loans no, not at all.

https://makerdao.com/dai/

$80M DAI issued so far...

[Isomatik]

That's only useful as a hedge for ETH. A mortgage where you have to put down 373% of the value of the house in liquid currency as collateral is not competitive in the slightest.

https://mkr.tools/

[omarchowdhury]

Sure, but I'm responding to the disingenuity or possibly the ignorance of saying "no loans, at all."

[solotronics]

absolute control over your money

[umanwizard]

Again, nothing stops you from keeping gold under your bed. The reason people don’t do this is because most people don’t actually need, want, or care about having absolute control over their money. And the probability of your home being robbed is much higher than that of your bank (and the FDIC) becoming insolvent.

[sparkie]

A government can steal your gold an outlaw it, as the US government did in 1933.

They can also try to outlaw bitcoin, but they have a bit more trouble stealing it.

[omarchowdhury]

> Again, nothing stops you from keeping gold under your bed.

Can I transmit my gold in any quantity that I want to anyone in the world with an Internet connection for a few dollars in fees?