[mabbo]

Cryptocurrencies offer a single property that is both good and bad: there is no authority who can reverse or block a transaction against the will of the participants.

Lawsuits and criminal proceedings can cause government authority to direct banks and financial institutions to do what they say. Government can set rules to block transactions, or to demand more identification to be tied to a transaction. Even cash can be physically seized and taken by the government. I'm not arguing this is good or bad, just that it is. You can come up with a list of circumstances where this authority is a bad thing, or a good thing.

And in cases like this, we see why that overriding authority can be a good thing. If your bitcoins are stolen, there is nothing anyone can do to get them back. They are gone.

[leifg]

Government can also seize your crypto but that’s besides the point.

When does non-reversal ever benefit the average Joe?

The only scenarios I can think of is when you transact with non-trustable sources. E.g. buying “stuff” off the darknet (and even here you usually have an escrow).

And that’s just not a use case in most people’s everyday life.