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by alphazard 818 days ago
Snapchat is mostly for porn? Signal is mostly for drug dealers? Tor is mostly for pedophiles?

The early adopters of a technology are the users that need it the most, and have the highest opportunity cost from not using it. You can think of them as beta-testers for the "nothing to hide" folks. You are looking at the beginning of a technology and criticizing the beta-tester population.
2 comments
red-iron-pine 818 days ago
when was the last time you bought anything with crypto?

like you drove to 7/11, got gasoline, a soda, and some chips, and paid with BTC?

how many people do you know bought a house with BTC? Not a BTC investment that they cashed out into USD, but just BTC?

Snapchat can be used for non-porn; BTC isn't used for anything.

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ogogmad 818 days ago
Can be used to buy things illegally. Think ADHD meds or sanctions breaking.

In an ideal world, the ADHD meds where I live should be made available by GP prescription to reduce the backlog. Right now, it takes years to get a diagnosis free of charge, or to get a prescription for thousands of USD.

Of course, somebody (the dealer) will be left holding the bag after it unravels. But it's rich to ask sufferers to put their lives on hold.

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pavlov 818 days ago
The beginning? It’s been fifteen years. Hundreds of billions have been invested. We’ve been through several massive hype cycles.

If there is any potential for mainstream adoption of crypto, what exactly is holding it back at this point? It’s not new; it’s not obscure; and it’s certainly not underinvested.

Of course the crypto promoters will never admit that because the only reason to invest in crypto is this narrative — “it’s something brand new, very few people understand it, you can get in on the ground floor and be part of a revolution, etc.”

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medo-bear 818 days ago
It is easy to understand the use-value: sovereignty over personal digital assets; sovereignty over transfer of said assets
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pavlov 818 days ago
Nobody seems to actually want that though. Most crypto owners just trade on centralized exchanges.

In practice, that sovereignty jargon is just an ideological veneer over unregulated penny stocks with no product-market fit.

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medo-bear 818 days ago
> Nobody seems to actually want that though. Most crypto owners just trade on centralized exchanges.

I'm talking about what is important to me. I don't pretend to know what others want

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