[workallday21]

I'd say the current banking system does an excellent job at money laundering and most major companies seem to play the tax system like a fiddle as to pay less taxes than a fast food employee.

So, what's left? Oh, the climate. Where to even begin here? Call me when hash function workers create smog in a small city. Until then, our industry seems quite capable of killing the planet by itself.

It's better for the world long term if people that care about it are not poor. So, do make money and improve the world in other ways. Clearly you can offset with good deeds whatever energy will be wasted.

[louwrentius]

Sad whataboutism.

Our current bankjng system isn’t perfect and criticism is OK.

But that doesn’t absolve Bitcoin frim their damaging impact.

And remember that Existing financial systems do a lot of good, they are a core part of our societies.

Bitcoin and other crypto doesn’t provide any legitimate benefit to our societies, it damages and undermines them.

[fsociety]

It’s a privilege to get to say that the existing (fiat) financial system does a lot of good. Yes, it is a core part of our society but it is cruel. The government, ultimately, makes this worse. Perhaps we will see this change, only time will tell. Until then, cryptocurrency is an evolving force that has armed individuals with hope to get out of the pile of shit. I think it will change the world in a big way. You don’t agree and that is cool. But I encourage you to open your mind a bit. The USD has been an unstoppable force in supporting tax evasion, money laundering, climate warming, and straight up killing of others. It has been used to undermine and destroy societies outside of America. Why do you ignore this and focus on one archetype of a cryptocurrency investor? With your logic, anyone who owns a USD is responsible for all that destruction caused by it. Food for thought, maybe.

[louwrentius]

No.

This is what I call extreme whataboutism.

Trying to paint the other in a very bad light so you don’t have to account for your own ‘misdeeds’.

No need for some kind of political discussion.

[viklove]

Trying to have a conversation about economics/finance without bringing in politics is nearly impossible. But what you call whataboutism, many see as valid criticism of the USD. You haven't really made any good case against crypto except "fiat was here first, so it is a core part of society," which isn't a very convincing argument. There is no whataboutism, I just prefer to have my wealth stored in an asset thats supply can't increase by 25% in one year based on the whims of some rich politicians appointed to the Fed. I can trust crypto because I can predict what it will do in terms of affordances and supply. With USD I can't do that. My money isn't in my control and I don't like that at all.

If Coinbase went and handed out a trillion $ worth of BTC to the wealthiest corporations in America over the past year, I would have my wealth in a different asset. Coinbase didn't do that with BTC though, the Fed did it with USD. I worked hard to earn this cash, why should I let someone else devalue my work without consulting me first?

[louwrentius]

Oh the case against crypto is still what it always was:

https://louwrentius.com/cryptocurrencies-are-detrimental-to-...

> I can trust crypto because I can predict what it will do in terms of affordances and supply.

That sounds like a delusion. BTC is very volatile. When the music stops, there won't be enough chairs...

The Fed did hand out USD but that is for a very, very good reason: to keep society up and running, to keep it from total collapse.

I understand that keeping society operational is not very profitable for you, but I think it's rather nifty.

[viklove]

> in terms of affordances and supply

Seems like you misread this part of my statement and replaced it with "price."

> to keep society up and running, to keep it from total collapse

Inflating the global reserver currency won't have this effect, it will only prolong the inevitable outcome. The reason we're in this situation in the first place is because of the US govt's mismanagement of the USD over the past five decades. I want out and crypto is my ticket, who are you to tell me I shouldn't be allowed to make this decision? I'm not telling you to stop using USD. I just want you to stop arguing for a crypto ban.

[workallday21]

I think it won't be long until this tech will be used by banks because it seems to work rather well.

As for a benefit, if you consider crypto as a mode of protest alone it has value.

People are allowed to smoke and destroy their health (and of those nearby), people are allowed to gamble, people are allowed to buy to biggest truck that pollutes to no end. How is that legitimate and how does that benefit more to society?

It's a weak system one that works only when it has no competition.