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by FabHK 489 days ago
The "oh but there's crime in fiat" argument holds no water.

Sure, HSBC facilitated money laundering and drug trafficking in Mexico. And when it came out, the fiat response was a huge outcry and putting a stop to it.

The crypto response is to say "screw the laws, let's go all in with money laundering and drug trafficking".

It's like noticing that kitchen knives are occasionally used for murder, and then concluding that it's a good idea to sell machine guns at every corner.

Fiat is indispensable, and (due to regulation) better for legitimate purposes than for crime.

Crypto is entirely dispensable, and (due to its inherent limitations (inefficient, slow, cumbersome)) better for crime than legitimate purposes.
2 comments
simpsond 489 days ago
Fiat currencies have collapsed in the past due to bad monetary policy (regulation is only good right?). Ask Argentinians how they feel about stablecoins after rapid inflation.

Alternative currencies offer competition and access. Why is that such a problem?

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stouset 488 days ago
I’m not sure you want to go down the path of comparing the rate of total failure of fiat currencies vs. cryptocurrencies.

Yet another crypto collapse is in the news every week.

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desumeku 488 days ago
Fiat is not indispensable, hello. Did you forget that human societies used to primarily have metallism-based economies before central banks managed to entrap the entire world in a system of debt slavery?
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FabHK 488 days ago
Sure, and that gold standard failed. Fiat (with a money supply that can be discretionarily managed, and allows for monetary policy) is indispensable to a modern economy.
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desumeku 488 days ago
It didn't "fail". It was gradually dismantled and replaced by a new economic order based on credit.
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stouset 488 days ago
As a homework exercise, I’d like you to consider just how much gold would be necessary to back the current amount of dollars in circulation.
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desumeku 488 days ago
This is a dumb question. The Fed can endlessly print as many dollars as it wants. They could print $20 trillion tomorrow. See? Just think about how much gold would be required to back that $20 trillion! Clearly gold is stupid. Right?
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