[jimkleiber]

I really like this idea (microtransactions) and yet don't really like the usage of ETH for them. Maybe this is unrelated, I guess I just want to receive payments in a currency that is relatively stable, and it seems like ETH, with so many people trying to make money off it rising in value (and maybe its monetary policy), has quite a volatile value.

Do you think web3 will work with such volatile currencies? Will these currencies stabilize?

I guess right now I'm hesitant to receive payment in crypto for that fear.

[xrd]

I worked at a large e-commerce company with a marketplace of several hundred million. That's what Ethereum has, a massive set of users, at least compared to other cryptocurrencies. There is no reason why web3 won't work with anything else, but onboarding users is really, really hard with even Ethereum, and that's a problem for any app.

Your point should have been my third point in my long rant above.

Yes, until the price stabilizes, it will be less exciting for a lot of people.

But, until we have utility applications, the ecosystem will just be full of grifters causing instability.

Seems like a catch 22. But, hopefully utility applications will start to appear and that will help stabilize things. .

And, at least the value is consistent in rising, not falling. :)

[jimkleiber]

As a relative outsider to crypto, mostly jumping in with the oh-I-should-have-invested-in-2010-when-my-boss-told-me-about-it, I wonder if some structural elements are causing the price instability, or rather, making them be less like currencies and more like gold.

Perhaps ETH is different in this, as I don't know it well. I know BTC is deflationary by default, and so it seems to be ripe for prospecting/grifting: "buy it today, it'll be worth more in the future! HODL!" If I have a currency that I think will almost certainly be worth more the next day, why would I spend it? Who wants to be the $80M pizza guy?

From what I can tell about ETH, it doesn't seem to be as predictably deflationary, and yet maybe it is, because, if someone is trying to make money off of holding a digital asset, doesn't it have to be deflationary? If the asset inflates, then people lose money and would have an incentive to spend it.

The other option seems to be stable coins, which somehow make me laugh, because many people in the space seem to be so against fiat currency and the US Fed, etc., and then create a currency tied directly to it and those policies.

Maybe I'm naive on this or just brainwashed by what I hear from the US Fed, it just seems that for a currency to work well, it has to almost be slightly inflationary, plus or minus a bit, so that people have an incentive to spend it more than save it.

Anyways, I'm glad you're working in this space and grateful for the way you shared with us :-)