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Comment by dbetteridge | Hacker News Reader

On a personal level I to have no need or want of cryptocurrencies, but the stated benefits are not for first world, white, city dwellers with ready access to the existing monetary system.

- Someone lives somewhere that the U.S refuses to bank with (Sanctions)

- Someone who lives somewhere that simply has no financial infrastructure readily accessible and relies on prepaid cards for things like water and electricity (Rural Africa?)

- Some industries are forbidden to use the majority of credit card processing facilities without excess fee's (Adult content for example)

These are examples where one could build processes around something like Ethereum, with the understanding that you are primarily just adding another input to the existing system but with the trade-offs being more access and lower fees but also less protections and greater risk.

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> - Someone lives somewhere that the U.S refuses to bank with

Cryptocurrencies won't solve this problem. If that happens, there are much bigger issues.

> - Someone who lives somewhere that simply has no financial infrastructure readily accessible and relies on prepaid cards for things like water and electricity (Rural Africa?)

Let's be honest. The whole blockhain / cryptocurrency was never about that ever.

> - Some industries are forbidden to use the majority of credit card processing facilities without excess fee's (Adult content for example)

I think there are more than plenty online sites where people can pay for that kind of content without any problems.

I just don't understand any of this.

That's fine, you don't have to use it. A lot of people do prefer to use it for payments and receive payments in it though. They don't want a middle-man bank and would rather their transactions were trustlessly sent and received.

At it's core cryptocurrency is a way to bypass banks if one was so inclined. Specifically currencies like Monero allow a person to send and receive payments completely anonymously, hence its increased usage on darknet markets.

That's a nice argument against cryptocurrencies.

They enable darkweb sites like Silk Road and it's successors.

So does physical cash. Perhaps we should outlaw it.

Yeah, but so does cash in the physical world. We shouldn't abolish cash tho.

Just because something can be used for "bad" doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. The internet also could be considered an enabler for sites like Silk Road, but its not gona get shut down for that reason.

So... the follow up question is, "Are there any good use cases?"

Yes, the biggest that comes to mind is it allows people who may be doing nothing wrong a payment system that cant be stoped. For example, someone of X religion could still make purchases in a society where religious freedom isn't allowed by its governing body.

May not be a concern for you today, but having the option for it is 100% I will support.

> Yeah, but so does cash in the physical world. We shouldn't abolish cash tho.

Cash I understand, it has benefits. Crypto doesn't, it only seems to have drawbacks and facilitate crime.

> - Someone lives somewhere that the U.S refuses to bank with

We are already starting to see this with Venezuela. The easiest way to get USD equivalents to certain people there is via USDC, which is being worked on with the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve.

"According to the company’s blog post, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve deposit funds seized by the U.S. into a bank account in the U.S. tied to the Guaidó government, which converts the funds into USDC that Circle then sends to Airtm." - https://www.coindesk.com/circle-usdc-venezuela-airtm

> Let's be honest. The whole blockhain / cryptocurrency was never about that ever.

I'm not sure why you think this. "Banking the unbanked" was a huge Bitcoin mantra back in the day. If anything, it's disappeared more recently as speculation has taken over and the narrative has moved from "p2p cash" to "store of value".

Tell me how someone living in Rural Africa can get any useful access to the Ethereum blockchain, without accepting a significant loss of expected benefits.

Frankly, if we're going to be broadly racist and otherwise discriminatory about this, I would say that Ethereum and other blockchain systems are vanity projects for first world, white, city dwellers, with very little relevance for the rest of the world.

Well I have plenty of friends in Argentina, and Ethereum is helping them live through hyperinflation.

Their currency is plunging, their banking system is corrupt, so these are their options:

1. Trade Pesos for USD on black market exchanges. Hide cash in safes & under mattresses 2. Purchase Dai or other stablecoins. Keep money in multi-signature vaults, earning interest through lending protocols.

Plus, cryptocurrencies allow many of them to work for foreign companies and get paid directly in stablecoins.

USD isn't that great because there's so much counterfeiting

100% agree.

I come from a country with strong currency controls, US/EU sanctions, no access to international credit cards or money, and an almost 1000% inflation rate. No one cares about crypto currencies, everyone wants hard cash US Dollars, money you can actually use on the streets and hold in your hands. You don't want money that adds another layer of indirection and confusion that you somehow need to trust will get you groceries next time you go to the shops.

Just to be clear, these reasons are:

- To commit a crime

- Not a real use case (If someone has no access to normal financial infrastructure, including Venmo and similar, how would they ever use crypto)

- To avoid processing fees by paying higher fees?

TIL its a crime to live in Iran

Living somewhere the US has sanctions against isn't a crime.

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