[hn_throwaway_99]

The idea that "normal people" will be able to use bitcoin at all without getting their private keys stolen is laughable.

Think of how often online bank accounts get hacked in the US, except the difference now is that your money is gone, permanently.

[acdha]

… and the people who made that possible for the hacker will laugh at you and say it's your fault rather than admitting that the system they sold you is fragile.

[tiku]

I don't think they have to use it like we use it..

[wraptile]

How do you think bank accounts get hacked? It's much easier to yank a password/credit card number people use daily.

The benefit of private key is you only need to use it once. Then store it away in a safe or _bank_.

More UX will develop over time as adoption grows. We already have hardware wallets that even babies could use.

Finally you somehow imply that FIAT theft doesn't happen. Even in recent modern history people have lost all their savings in a snap be it their house burning down, colleague stealing everything or even your bank going under.

[KingOfCoders]

"More UX will develop over time as adoption grows. We already have hardware wallets that even babies could use."

The difference is this: If people have a hardware wallet they use digitally they think it's like a bank account on their phone. They do not realize that with that wallet if the wallet is gone so is the money. Wheras if the phone is gone, nothing happens to their money.

[reedjosh]

Have a wallet and a seed phrase for said wallet in a safety deposit box or even two. Boom, all set.

[andyana]

You mean a safety deposit box at a bank? At a bank most Ecuadorians don't use?

[reedjosh]

In that case, bury a seed phrase somewhere like hidden treasure. The whole point is that a seed phrase is all that's needed to backup a wallet.

It's akin to hiding money in your mattress, but less bulky. You could even memorize it because seed phrases are between 12 and 24 words.

[KingOfCoders]

"It's akin to hiding money in your mattress"

So people with money in their mattress and no access to a bank should do an elaborate scheme that ends with "akin to hiding money in your mattress"?

With a treasure map and a cross where the treasure is so your children will find it in need? Then make a movie out of it and become rich?

[bun_at_work]

> or even your bank going under.

FDIC insurance prevents your money from being lost in this case, no?

Also, it's a bit ridiculous to think that private keys won't be stolen because you can just store it away in a safe or bank or whatever. People are susceptible to all sorts of scams and this private key won't be a panacea for human stupidity or ignorance.

[hn_throwaway_99]

Basically everything in your post highlights why crypto is a horrible idea for your average person:

> How do you think bank accounts get hacked? It's much easier to yank a password/credit card number people use daily.

Exactly, and when a credit card number is stolen the consumer is almost never liable, as opposed to crypto where your life savings are gone forever.

> The benefit of private key is you only need to use it once. Then store it away in a safe or _bank_.

As another responder said, you need your private key to sign every transaction. Giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you're talking about wallet keywords, even then if you have an account you still need the ability to sign transactions, and according to crypto enthusiasts the no-middleman, non-reversability of crypto transactions is a feature, not a bug.

> More UX will develop over time as adoption grows. We already have hardware wallets that even babies could use.

This man used a Trezor wallet but was still tricked into entering his wallet keywords into a fake Trezor app and lost his life savings: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/30/trezor-...

> Even in recent modern history people have lost all their savings in a snap be it their house burning down, colleague stealing everything or even your bank going under.

Which is exactly why everyone with a mortgage is required to have home owners insurance, and FDIC insurance exists.

The only way to introduce these kinds of benefits (e.g. to have someone adjudicate allegations of fraud; insurance; etc.) is to introduce middle men, which then defeats the entire purpose of crypto in the first place.

[UncleMeat]

You need your private key to sign transactions.

On an unrelated note, why do cryptocurrency advocates so frequently write "FIAT" in all caps? It isn't an acronym or initialism.

[janeroe]

> The idea that "normal people" will be able to use bitcoin at all ... is laughable.

The idea that "normal people" will be able to use cash at all is laughable.

The idea that "normal people" will be able to use gold coins at all is laughable.

And yet, many use (or used to) and don't need a mommy state to tell them what to do.

[jokethrowaway]

I'm all for getting the government out - but cash or gold is way easier to use.

If you have a political problem, you need to solve it politically. You can't hack it with a technical solution or politicians and their rich friends will just find a way to use it against you (like it's happening with btc, enjoy limitless tracking and the rich elite profiting from btc as much (if not more) than you) or ban it (like it happened to e-gold).

[reedjosh]

> you need to solve it politically.

And what do you do when politics are fully captured by corporate and oligarchical interests?

The majority of bitcoiners see no way out of our current political system. The dollar underpins the US hegemony.

Bitcoin wouldn't be necessary if the government would allow alternative currencies, but until bitcoin, it had squashed numerous attempts at alternatives.

So to say that we need to solve it politically misses the point. Bitcoin is a solution to solve what is seen as a political mess. Further, politics is just non-violent war. This _is_ a political method.

> their rich friends will just find a way to use it against you

I don't entirely disagree. I see bitcoin as a start. The lightning network already brings some anonymity to transactions, but it could be made to do better.

Monero (XMR) is a privacy based crypto that already does so and can currently do 1500tps on chain (BTC does ~7). Crypto is war against oligarchs motivated by failed traditional politics. Monero and other techs like decentralized exchanges are a step up in weaponry of this war.

[jokethrowaway]

I have a feeling Monero et similia will be banned together with encrypted messaging (encryption = terrorist). We lose more freedom every year at the hands of governments, I don't see why this trend is bound to improve.

I think what you do is you flee the country and move somewhere smaller where you have greater freedom and a greater chance at influencing politics.

My granddad was putting bombs in nazi buildings, but I don't think it really helped. We needed the USA to come over and kill the bad guys.

I don't know who will come to save us this time.

[reedjosh]

Decentralized exchanges will prevent their ability to ban it.

[G3rn0ti]

Well, the concept of holding cash and gold at home is easier than managing a private key. But as soon as you want your money to work i.e. earn interests or invest it, crypto currencies are easier to work with. I mean, you can literally deposit and earn interest by touching a button inside your Coinbase wallet, right now.

Regarding your second argument: Change in the financial system does not happen by itself. You need severe pressure. DeFi has a huge potential to put pressure on the traditional financial markets to make them more accessible to the poor and limit their excesses (monetary inflation).

The government could of course “ban” Bitcoin and DeFi. But since they are decentralized it can’t make them really disappear — only more cumbersome to get into (and out of), for example, by closing down centralized exchanges. But the government can’t really prevent you to meet a “dealer” cashing in/out on your cryptos.

[acdha]

> But the government can’t really prevent you to meet a “dealer” cashing in/out on your cryptos.

If that “dealer” doesn’t report your transactions under KYC or either of you don’t pay taxes, you’ll get a hard reminder that governments can and routinely do prevent things like this. It’s especially risky to break those laws with cryptocurrencies because you’re leaving a full irrepudiable history of every transaction so when they bust your dealer they get _every_ transaction, not just the one that was caught, and that’s for everyone they’ve dealt with — and since those transactions are all by definition illegal, they have both grounds to investigate and an easy lever to pressure each person to turn in bigger players in exchange for leniency.