I find it odd that a person who understands the madness of our current financial system so well, still is violently opposed of anything blockchain related.
Blockchains are costly and don't solve these problems.
It is as evidenced by the way blockchains are used now. Cryptocurrencies are the most important applications, and few people actually own them, and by "owning" I mean being able to make a blockchain transaction. In most cases, they have an account with a third party who does the blockchain stuff. In other words, a bank. In fact, it may be an actual bank, which is probably for the best because actual banks are highly regulated and are less likely to just take your money and disappear.
Cryptocurrencies quickly became just another financial product that is being integrated in our current system. And for the other ways cryptocurrencies are used, these are mostly illegal (drug trade, ransoms, scams, tax evasion, etc...) and governments are working on that.
Other prominent applications of blockchains: NFT, DAO, etc... are even crazier than cryptocurrencies. All the madness of our current financial system without the regulations that make it somewhat usable to grownups.
Yes, I hope the tech world gets very involved in this. Bitcoin is a horrible product for a cash replacement, since it is not private and the price fluctuates dramatically. We really should have a digital dollar or some gold, etc backed digital currency but it is absolutely essential that it is as or even more private than cash.
The banks are also working on that problem through things like Venmo and Zelle. Tech companies like Apple and Google and PayPal have payment services too.
That's too much for me. It adds up to that entity having a record of all my transactions, who they're with, and how much they are. Def not private like cash.
Say you are from a third world country. Your family back home needs money, but a bunch of red tape and fees in the traditional finance system (sending money to a third world country often raises KYC/AML questions and wire transfer fees are high) make it difficult and expensive. Moreover, in some countries with unstable currencies such as Lebanon and Argentina, the banks have to offer government mandated exchange rates that are wildly off the effective rates; there have even been cases where FX deposits were forcibly converted to the local currencies at these unrealistic rates. Rather than go through all this, you can just send BTC and sidestep all the issues.
I think you're expecting technology to solve a political problem. That doesn't work; those same countries probably wouldn't think twice about making it a crime and putting you in prison for working around it.
It is as evidenced by the way blockchains are used now. Cryptocurrencies are the most important applications, and few people actually own them, and by "owning" I mean being able to make a blockchain transaction. In most cases, they have an account with a third party who does the blockchain stuff. In other words, a bank. In fact, it may be an actual bank, which is probably for the best because actual banks are highly regulated and are less likely to just take your money and disappear.
Cryptocurrencies quickly became just another financial product that is being integrated in our current system. And for the other ways cryptocurrencies are used, these are mostly illegal (drug trade, ransoms, scams, tax evasion, etc...) and governments are working on that.
Other prominent applications of blockchains: NFT, DAO, etc... are even crazier than cryptocurrencies. All the madness of our current financial system without the regulations that make it somewhat usable to grownups.