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Comment by Findeton | Hacker News Reader

So what's the intrinsic value of these paper things you call dollars?

Those paper things endorsed by a government, with armed forces, a central bank, and a whole legal system with another armed enforcement department, and ability to pass laws, and raise taxes and pay employees in that same paper; those mere paper things?

They are claims on taxes.

How did this help Venezuela keep the value of their currency? Bolivars are also claims on taxes.

The Bolivars being introduced into circulation over a period exceed the number of Bolivars needed to settle debts and taxes over a period, and the excess of Bolivars in the system resulted in people being able to obtain Bolivars they needed to settle these obligations by doing less work or supplying fewer goods.

Competently run central banks, unlike incompetently run central banks or crypto mining algorithms, intervene to reduce the money in circulation when its purchasing power falls faster than they're comfortable with.

Are you saying this has helped people in Venezuela?

Not unless they had significant debts or tax bills denominated in increasingly worthless Bolivar, or the newly printed Bolivar were being funnelled to them, no.

(Obviously debtors did not continue to be helped either, as businesses and lenders adjusted repayment terms accordingly, including a strong preference for receiving USD in untaxed offshore accounts, or just gave up altogether after incompetent monetary policy had ruined them.)

Very specific example there. Central banks can mismanage currencies, especially when the top government is bad. Film at 11. This doesn't make state currencies inherently bad or wrong. Might as well argue that the fire service is bad idea because that one time it didn't put out a fire.

how did bitcoin help Venezuela?

It helped and is helping people escape oppressive regime in Venezuela. Your snarky question comes from the place privilege as you've never experience this kind of oppression.

More info: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-adoption-venezuela-research

> from the place privilege as you've never experience this kind of oppression.

I can't tell if this is bad satire or real bad faith, but my family actually escaped the fascist regime and the nazi invasion and it's a miracle I am alive, I'm much older than you think...

but "check your privilege" rhetorical aside, how is bitcoin helping Venezuela people to escape the oppressive regime?

Venezuela hyperinflation has political roots, there's history of crashing south american economies as the most popular ways to dethrone the elected government without military intervention to install regimes. If the country can adopt bitcoins it's because the government allowed them (Venezuela bank stashed a lot of cryptos), IMO it's pretty weird that an oppressive government would allow something that goes against their interest...

> privilege as you've never experience this kind of oppression.

it is weird to see how the cryptocurrency nerds, with their massively polluting, "I got mine" high-tech get rich quick schemes, grab ahold of the mantle of champion of the oppressed and poverty-stricken.

It's disgusting, phony and hypocritical. It's either acting in bad faith or delusion - I can't tell which, perhaps they blend into each other.

So much projection. Astonishing.

What's discussing is handwaving real-world problems because they don't fit your agenda.

Thinking that poor people need your horribly polluting bitcoins is the epitome of not understanding the real world's problems.

Calling this projection is insulting, and IMHO very much projection itself. bad faith, deluded, or both.

And debt. Every dollar "printed" is owed by at least one other entity to a third party

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